


Dollhouse

by orphan_account



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alternate History, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Attempt at Humor, Coming Out, Content May Not Be Suitable For Younger Audiences, Crimes & Criminals, Developing Relationship, Dieselpunk, Eventual Romance, F/F, F/M, Falling In Love, Identity, Inappropriate Humor, Inspired by Music, Life Lessons, M/M, Melodrama, Multi, Mythology - Freeform, Organized Crime, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Third Person Limited, Rating May Change, Recreational Drug Use, Romance, Slow Build, Swearing, Urban Fantasy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-12
Updated: 2015-06-30
Packaged: 2018-04-03 17:12:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 25,505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4108657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He did meet up again with his old teacher, who had helped him learn and grow when he was younger, at a new café in Nibelheim- she had aged nicely, her afro still stubbornly airborne despite being smaller and her wrinkles finally setting in. "So," she huffed, tea warming her small hands, "you're either still a sassy brat, or a sassy brat with a bite." She teased.<br/>Cloud smiled- really smiled, the kind he only gave to his boyfriend when he did something cute, or said something wonderful- "I'm a sassy brat with a billion Gil, international crime syndicate currently eloped to the strongest, and most handsome man in the world, but sassy brat works too." He quipped.<br/>For a moment, she looked so elated- like she had been when she was diving into a long winded explanation about theories sixteen years ago- but then she did her usual bark of a short laugh and shook her head. "Figures." She prused her lips thoughtfully. "Will I ever get to meet said hunk?" She wiggled her eyebrows playfully and Cloud let out a small chuckle of his own.<br/>"Depends, General Sephiroth is a busy man."<br/>She sputtered, then wiped away the tea dripping down her chin and scoffed. "Figures. I've missed you brat.<br/>"I missed you too Grammy."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter I: Schoolhouse

**Author's Note:**

> 'Hey girl, open the walls, play with your dolls  
> We'll be a perfect family.  
> When you walk away, is when we really play  
> You don't hear me when I say,  
> "Mom, please wake up.  
> Dad's with a slut, and your son is smoking cannabis".'- Dollhouse, Melanie Martinez.
> 
> * * *
> 
> No clue where I'm going with this- okay that's a total lie, but I can't really put everything into words- so I'm an insignificant human who doesn't own anything (Disclaimer: I don't own anything), the characters in the story and the settings belong to square enix who has stated their ownership clearer than Marvel, Disney, and Lucas Arts. Seriously Disney, stop buying all my favorite shit. Next thing you know its Nintendo- oh, actually Nintendo is a fandom bitch too. Where is this going? Oh yeah, Nintendo and it's fetish for suing.
> 
> * * *
> 
> Well anyways you guys (like five readers, sob, sob) can enjoy if ya want, it's my summer vacation so I have a lot more time to write.
> 
> I'm going to change Nibelheim slightly so that it's larger. Other than that it'll still basically the same.
> 
> * * *
> 
> This is a more detailed summary, so if you don't want to know more than you want to don't read this; Starts with Cloud living in Nibelheim (no surprise there), his father's a scumbag and everyone else knows it, except, _apparently _Cloud's mother (that was me being witty and cynical with a small dash of sarcasm) who turns to alcohol, but nobody other than Cloud knows she's binge drinking. Unlike his father everyone in the town likes his mother, pity her and all that jazz while her drinking gets worse. Cloud wants to leave, but everyone thinks he's a heartless bastard for wanting so and gets into fights. Eventually he leaves for Midgar and the rest of the story goes on from there.__

# Dollhouse

## Chapter I: Schoolhouse

### Cloud goes about his normal activities, but his step-father is causing problems in his life, along with the looming threat of bullies at the start of a new school year, but there's a new teacher rumored to be teaching the grade two students.

* * *

Like any mountain boy, the first thing you learned to make the bitter winters more bearable was to conserve as much warmth as you could and maybe only your lips will turn blue- for Cloud Strife, however was another story. Naturally, he was drawn to the cold, sitting down on his wooden roof and overlooking the town with a frown, flecks of snow twirling around him and melting on his exposed skin.

To one side there were the Lockhart's, and to the right were the siblings', across from him he could see the inn, the store, the only three cars in town, the courthouse, the well- and more in the distance- Shinra Villa. More houses behind the circle, whilst the mansion sat alone on it's perch, it's faded and cracked paint visible if he squinted his clear blue eyes and mentally urged himself to.

On the outer edge of town in the outskirts, step-pa was with a slut.

The thought disgusted him to no end- and the worse thing was nobody did or said anything about it. " _Sweetie, it's not that easy_." His mother cooed sadly, running her hands though his hair.

He looked up at her and his frown deepened. "Why not?"

"You're not old enough to understand." She nodded as he bit on his lip in an effort to hold back his groan of frustration.

"What's not to fucking understand?" He grumbled, fishing to his feet and shuffling towards the large oak tree, it's long arms extended, welcoming, and inviting with its long blueish grey moss draped over it's aged limbs; climbing onto the sturdy branch he carefully climbed down and walked along the sidewalk quietly. To them he was just a man with not so respectable habits. While most men in the town took to hunting and gave their sons rifles while their daughters recived elaborate dresses, he took to the bar every night and frequented the brothel when no one was looking.

Except, Cloud was.

It was easy to learn quirks by just watching- Mr Bosch has a slight slouch? It's probably the medical bill's he's pulling out of his mailbox from the time he broke his foot; on the contrary to the rumor that his wife kicked him out on the couch and slammed his foot in the door. Mrs Fuhrmann rubbing her temples? Drinking. Some of the older kids in school suddenly craving a behemoth sized platter? Drugs.

It wasn't hard to see.

Mount Nibel was a mass of looming ivory rock with a snowy peak, home to some of the most malicious monsters on the planet- ranging from dragons to wolves it was a far more hostile environment than it's forest. Walking past the mansion the path gave way to black soil that was a familiar solidity underneath his foot.

He never paid much mind to his step father, Cloud would notice the animosity between him and his mother sometimes... A meaningful glare... A rough touch. He really didn't understand, because no one would explain it to him. He scowled, ripping a few berries off a bush he past and shoved them into his mouth; he hated the man, he really did- he hated they way he would drink, he hated the way he pushed his mother around. She wasn't even submissive, but she was scrambling to the fridge to give him another drink.

It made him sick.

He sat on a rock, slightly sloped upwards to overlook the town, only the faint silver outline of the houses could be seen thanks to the moonlight and the lights shimmering on the dark blanket of the night sky. He caught sight of dark glowing eyes watching him through the undergrowth and snow, shaggy fur standing over it's cover.

For now the wolf would just watch. Then it would loose interest in search of easy prey. Sometimes he wished humans weren't like that.

Making his way down the moyutain by using the deer trails, and crawling through his window he slipped underneath his blanket and laid his head against his pillow, attentive as the familiar soft creak of the front door hinges' drifted into his bedroom and compelled him to listen as his mother's muffled voice spoke softly.

"...get ...woman...do you...the bills? Do you..." Cloud cringed at the audible crash that followed. "That's right bitch, you don't own shit- go on cry, play the 'victim'."

How fucking dare he? Tossing his sheets aside he jumped to his feet. The door was right there. Open it, he ordered to his trembling fingers. Do _something_.

"...fucking sleep..." Another crash, and a grumble. His legs gave out beneath him and he fell to the floor listening to his mother's sobs. I'm sorry, I'm sorry I didn't do anything. How could he just sit here? Weak and crying for no reason- he had no reason to, when it was his mother was hurt.

He hated himself for being scared.

Noiselessly, he opened his door and avoided the wooden planks that creaked, sitting down at her side. Tentatively, he rubbed small circles on her shoulder, wishing he was better at comforting her. I'm so sorry. "Go back to bed sweetie..."

Reluctantly, he stood, giving her a light hug before returning to his room and sitting on his bed in silence.

He was so fucking pitiful. Sitting there and doing nothing. He was so fucking pitiful.

He tugged the plug to his alarm clock out of the outlet before it could go off and winced as the sunlight began to seep through his shutters. Brushing his teeth he ran his fingers through his hair, glowering at the stubborn spikes that stood at attention while others did as they pleased. The few strands that fell over his blue eyes tickled his nose and cheeks.

He was smaller than most kids in his grade, he rose to the balls of his feet on his stool and poked at the slight curve developing under his cheek bone. He ran his fingers underneath his chin, feeling the bone and slightly straighter contour. At least now he didn't look too much like a girl. He reached back to finger the long strands growing at the bottom of his head- or as one of his classmates called it a 'Chocobo mullet'. He would cut it eventually, but for now it was fine brushing the base of his neck.

Changing into his clothes he glanced at the door leading outside in their living room, where his mother slept, an empty glass on the table in front of her. Frowning, he walked to the closet and pulled out a spare blanket and draped it over her body, placing an icepack on her bruising forearm.

Unlocking the window he jumped out of it and slid it shut, and walking down the sidewalk to the school. "Why did you jump out your window?" A familiar voice giggled and Cloud stiffened, looking back to stared wide eyes at the brown haired girl who smiled at him brightly with her red eyes.

Tifa..."...I..." His voice cracked and instead he joked; "...was completing my life long dream of jumping out a million windows."

She blinked in confusion.

"I was joking."

She giggled, and he never felt so undeserving in his short life. "Oh...you're so serious it's hard to tell sometimes." She skipped to his side, smiling wider at the sight of the wooden building. _Don't you hate me?_

"Tifa-" He began before another voice overlapped his and three girls waved to her from near the flag pole.

"Bye Cloud, I'll see you later." She waved, running over to her friends and leaving him alone to his thoughts. Biting back his resentment, made is ways through the shirt hallways to the library, where the librarian gave him a scowl before returning to reshuffling her stack as Cloud sat himself down at one of the old computers that dusted in the library.

Most children not in the elementary grade didn't know how to use computers since they mostly played outside, or with their toys inside when it was too cold, while Cloud spent equal time on both since Tifa and he fell off the bridge the day she tried to go up the Nibel mountain, most of the other children made him the subject of torment and mockery.

Originally he hadn't meant to become a grey hat, but the internet was just there... Most of the news circulated around the Wutai Conflict between the Shinra Electric Power Company and the western nation.

Since the quickly ending twentieth century Shinra has been rising to power and spreading across the Continents' like weeds and roots hurried into stone, originally starting as a weapons manufacturer, the new SOLDIER department, and growing territory it was quickly becoming an industrial superpower. Shinra had long been in Nibelheim- proof being the reactor on the mountain (that he might've accidentally cracked into because the entire system was connected), and the mansion (which was a miracle he even managed to work with that system since the computers shouldn't even be functioning)- but the tiny town was quickly deemed insignificant in the promise of a neo-city under construction between Kalm and Junon.

He leaned back in the plastic chair and stared at the Shinra website with a frown, recalling some off the bits he managed to decrypt about the use of mako on human beings- while monsters and all were nice, he wasn't really interested in all that because of the Wutain website (he had miraculously managed to translate using a program that made the school computer crash six times) that was a former school stated the mako was extremely dangerous and exposure could cause an addition or an overdose that could quickly lead to death.

On the other hand, maybe if he had improved strength, he wouldn't be such so pathetically weak.

Mako Poisoning. Death upon exposure. _Are you not reading these things_? He frowned, running his hands through his hair- while controversial, mako was part of everyday life and provided power to many towns. The people were completely dependent on it. While he didn't understand much, he at least knew that.

The warning bell let out it's shrill cry and the librarian that was trying to look over his shoulder (yes, he noticed you and can assure you that he's not watching porn) scrambled back to her desk and reshuffling her pile of books as he rolled his eyes in annoyance.

Walking into his classroom, and already missing the lone nights of summer when the loud chatter ceased to a whisper at his arrival he could hear a group of girls whisper ' _it's the ice prince.'_

While the name was in no way offending, it did get annoying once you find that someone took the liberty of putting ice cubes in his book bag right before summer and got him another visit from officer pig-face for getting into a fight. Along with the name came the rumors of his 'evil ice castle' where he froze animals solid and sucked out their souls- which made absolutely no sense to Cloud, but when he had looked up the concept of 'soul harvesting' he found some interesting search results.

' _I heard that the new teacher is from the other continent.'_

_'My older brother said she was a babe.'_

_'What's a babe?'_

_'Who knows.'_

Resisting the urge to snicker, the entire class fell silent as a woman with dark skin and curly black hair that bounced in a ball on her head- Cloud had seen the style online, recalling that it was called an afro- bright blue blouse and matching skirt with white stripes it was easy to tell this woman was definitely not from anywhere near Nibelheim. "Alright y'all, settle down." She urged to a group that resumed gossiping. Cloud noted that there were a few grey strands at her roots. "My name's Miss Merryweather, y'all can call me Miss, Miss Merryweather, or Ma'am. Are we clear?"

"Yes Miss Merryweather." The class replied in chorus, while Cloud remained silent in his seat.

"Good. Let's go over classroom rules." She set down her purse on her desk, taking chalk from it's cup and writing on the board she wrote a number one and wrote the word 'Respect'. "Does anybody know the definition of this word?"

Cloud glanced around, not surprised to see the other second years looking amongst themselves for a clue.

"How about you. What's your name?" She looked at Cloud with her dark eyes observant.

"Cloud." He hesitantly muttered.

"Speak clearly, please."

"Cloud."

He repeated louder, and she smiled gently, then assumed her stern composure. "Do you know the definition Cloud?"

"I wouldn't expect the ice prince to know, he's so stupid." A boy snickered, and Miss Merryweather gave him a chilling glare.

"Would you like to elaborate on that young man?" She challenged, a crease forming between her narrowing eyebrows.

While Cloud wondered why she was getting angry, the oblivious student continued. "They say he's just a little ice demon walking around in human skin, like an animal, he doesn't get that no one likes him either." He snorted.

"What's your name boy?" She frowned, her laugh lines deepening.

"Benjamin." He answered unsurely.

"Benjamin, can you tell me why respect is important?"

"No ma'am."

"Then I suggest you stay on topic." She wrote next to respect 'to acknowledge the qualities of another thing, object, figure, or person positively; to show proper acceptance towards a subject.' "Read along with me; to acknowledge the qualities of another thing, object, figure, or person positively; to show proper acceptance towards a subject." She parroted with them. "Can y'all tell me why this is important?" Silence. She sighed. "Respect is important because it shows that one values another as an individual, and that he or she honors the personal rights and dignity of the person as a fellow human being. Any questions?"

Raised hands.

She smiled, her shoulders falling slightly. "When I call on y'all, please tell me your name, and say your question." She nodded towards the middle sibling I lived next to. "Go on."

"My name is Mila, and I still don't get why this is important." The red head frowned looking back and forth between Miss Merryweather and the board.

Leaning forward on his desk, Cloud listened intently.

"Because, people who are disrespectful don't make many friends." She explained. "Other people won't want to be around y'all, if y'er not only rude, but if y'all mistreat their belongings too."

That made sense. A few hands went down.

Hesitantly, Cloud raised his hand.

"Yes Cloud?' She smiled a little wider- encouragingly at him and he felt his unease abate.

"Why do you value respect?" He watcher her posture carefully as his question sink in and she looked...elated.

"To me respect means that everyone can live together peacefully with tolerance." She hesitated before she contained. "Do y'all know what Genocide is?"

Most of the class shook their heads. Cloud bit his lip thoughtfully; he had heard the word on an anti-Shinra website, but he never though it was important. He raised his hand again. "Something Shinra does a lot?"

She threw her head back in a hearty laugh, her entire small frame shaking for a long moment before she shook her head. "Yes, son, you could say that. Genocide is the intentional mass homicide of a group with certain... traits, such as religion, or a nation. Yes?"

"Um..." A black haired boy frowned, and twirled his fingers together nervously. "My name is Thomas ma'am, and I was wondering what's religion?"

She paused, tilting her head and smoothing out her afro that sprang up the instant after her touch left it. "A collection of beliefs." She looked like she wanted to say more, and Cloud was tempted to ask her what else she had to say, but Benjamin beat him to it by asking; "Like what?"

Her chocolate brown eyes almost glowed and she turned to the board once more and drew a few strange symbols. "It's more so a cultural system, most explain the world and it's workings and... A 'code' of morals, for lack of better phrasing." She touched her springy hair again. "They'd have gatherings to practice their teachings and express their beliefs. Most religions believed that before the world was created- or the Universe, if ya will, there was only complete darkness or Choas, but personally I believe it to be a state of complete nonexistence."

"Complete nonexistence..." Cloud repeated in a whispered, eagerly leaning forward with his handson his desk.

"Then, a figure if higher power- a God, or deity, gave the universe foundation, in some religions they furthered that creation by creating other deities, while others remained the only Gods or Goddess. Most religous scriptures assign...a role, to put it simply- to deities, to explain concepts, such as why the seasons change and why the sky is blue." She giggled. "Though the actual study of religion is much more complicated, it all runs on the same format because it's all based off of one thing or another- once it no longer becomes relevant or another replaces it, a religion becomes myth."

Cloud frowned, watching as a girl- one of Tifa's trio- raised her hand. "Isolde, Miss, why would people want it become myth?"

Miss Merryweather twirled the chalk in her fingers. "Honestly darling, I have no clue. So far humans are the only one's I know to be so obsessed with categories and groups the real reason was lost long ago." She mused thoughtfully. "It's like language, constantly changing and evolving that after a while everyone forgets how it started and it becomes part of everyday life- slang and words, that is." She elaborated. "Since yer generation is being built off of technology, science and logic, I expect many religions to become myth soon. Maybe not for a while, but soon enough."

Nibbling on the edge of his pencil, he listened intently as she continued. "But then again the age of scientific discovery could offer much more creative growth than the monsters and legends of my day." She smiled. "Y'all look like a creative bunch, if you feel like talking to me about anything, whenever's appropriate, feel free. Now onto the second rule." Next to a number two she wrote 'No Bullying'. "Can anybody tells me what this means?" She asked, tapping on the word 'bullying'. "Yes, you in the back."

Cloud craned his neck to look back at a boy with dark hair and bright green eyes. He spoke proudly, upright in his seat. "It's when you mess with someone right?"

"Yes, in a sense, bullying is unwanted, aggressive behave'n a school environment, and often enough times, it happens repeatedly." She chuckled. "Y'all might not have it as bad as my day though. Do you know what 'messing' with someone who's in another age group is called?" Silence. "Harassment, or if they take it far enough, assault. These days you go to court if an adult harasses someone, which is why respect and 'no bully'n' go together- if you practice respect now y'all are less likely to go to prison on accounts of assault, or if it escalates to a point; murder."

"Murder?" Mila gaped.

"Yes darling, murder- y'all know what that is right?" She watched as they all nodded, Cloud winced when the metal of the eraser scraped his teeth due to the movement, and watched as Miss Merryweather grew serious. "Do y'all know why people murder?" Or the most part everyone remained silent, but out of the corner of his eyes Cloud saw a few shake their heads. "There's many reasons, but the most predominant are called 'hate-crimes'. Y'all ever heard of that before?" More head shakes. "It's a usually violent movement against certain people, like Genocide, but not all of it's murder. Like, jump'n someone, or burning down a structure of religious value. Now, I'm pretty lenient for the most part since I used to teach older classes and I was a child once, but I don't tolerate religious, sexual, and physical discrimination. It's just unethical."

Discrimination? Unethical?

"Ah, I forgot, discrimination is the unjust, prejudice- that's forming an opinion about someone before you meet them based off of others opinions- treatment of categories of people or things, today it's mostly around the subject of sex, race, age and such." She waved her hand as she spoke."Ethnics are the morals, values and beliefs one places in their life or by society, being unethical betrays those things. A good example is the Wutai conflict- y'all heard about that?"

Cloud sat a little stiffer in his chair.

"Cloud?" She raised a thin, curved black eyebrow at him. "Is something wrong?"

"I...read about that stuff online." He swallowed thickly. How had he missed all this. "It said that 'by sending the new SOLDIER's to Wutai, Shinra is subjecting Wutain's to a Genocide worse than that of the extinct races that were subjected to the worst case Holocausts' in history'." He quoted. "What does that mean? What were they talking about?"

She frowned, sitting down in her desk and folding her hands together. "This is considered to be...'misinformation'...that means what I'm about to tell y'all was completely erased from history books. It also means that it can not leave this classroom or some people will be...scared..."

"Scared of what?" The black haired boy blurted out.

"Ah, sorry, I didn't catch your name." Miss Merryweather smiled sadly.

"It's Jeffrey, Miss." Jeff grinned. "What are they scared of, miss?"

She sighed, leaning back in her chair. "A while before y'all were born there was this once great King who allegedly was the ruler of the planet. He had an army that crippled any threats, genius innovators- people who made things- and a diverse, beautiful culture. At the peak of his reign his own court murdered him, they took control if the world and murdered their own people by burn'n and starve'n them until The Court suddenly disappeared with all their advanced machinery along with them"

"They're all gone?" A student said, while another commented; "if they're gone, why are people afraid?"

"Some say that the spirits of The Court were exiled from the Promised Land for their crimes, so they linger around those who dare speak their names and subject them to eternal suffering." She shrugged. "Though other accounts that were recovered after the brutality stated that they lingered around those as malicious as them, so there's really no concrete accounts I can build a proper theory on. My third rule is confidentiality, that means if y'all want to tell me something and I don't believe it's harmful to y'all or others I won't tell anyone." Then she laughed. "That doesn't include report cards and progress reports."

The collective awes' that arose was too priceless to not let himself laugh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Started: 06/09/2015 ******  
>  **Finished: 06/10/2015 ******
> 
> * * *
> 
> _Grey Hat _: a term for a hacker that is a mixture of a 'White Hat' (ethical hacker/ someone who hacks for beneficial purposes) and a 'Black Hat' (cracker/ someone who hacks for their own personal gain or seeks to harm/steal/'crack into' for personal enjoyment) often alternating or even blending between the two.__
> 
> * * *
> 
> _Yeah, so the whole school thing was kind of important for Cloud later, cause puberty it always such a fun thing to go through. The whole humor aspects will come in a little later too._


	2. Chapter II: Family House

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "A chair is still a chair  
> Even when there's no one sittin' there  
> But a chair is not a house  
> And a house is not a home  
> When there's no one there to hold you tight  
> And no one there you can kiss goodnight"- A House is not A Home, written by Bacharach and Hal David both Luther Vandross and Dionne Warwick did their own (separate) performances of this song.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own anything, such as the songs I put in my summaries/notes, they belong to their respectful owners and Square Enix owns the Final Fantasy Franchise and it's respected material (ie. Characters, settings, canon, etcetera).
> 
> 06/13/2015 So I was actually doing more intensive research about Passive and Active Narration and realized that I could shift between the two to make it more interesting, but I'm still trying out how it works so you guys probably won't see much of it till later chapters.

# Dollhouse

## Chapter II: Family House

### Cloud returns home to find that his house had suddenly become unwelcoming and foreign. Benjamin declares his desires for Cloud's friendship, ans Miss Merryweather is welcomed to the town...by most, but she has an old friend living in the outskirts Cloud soon meets.

* * *

Somehow, Miss Merryweather's eccentric lessons (and negligence to mention what sex was, and vaguely explained that it was a topic for older audiences) she had somehow made him forget his exhaustion thanks to his insomnia as Tifa walked at his side. "Ugh, class was so boring! What about you Cloud?"

He felt his stomach flop in his abdomen as if it could grow wings and fly. "It was really interesting." He smiled, thinking back to all he had eagerly scribbled down in his notebook. "We played vocabulary golf." 

She giggled, folding her hands together and holding them. "How does that even work?! Did you break any windows, window hopper?"

"Broken windows don't count." Cloud stuck his tongue out at her, and allowed himself to smile as they passed the water tower. "You pick a word length, and depending on the length that's how far you have to stand back in the classroom and guess the definition of that word using context clues, suffixes, and prefixes. If you get it right it's a point to your team, and you can score extra points for your team if you can get the ball into the hole- which was basically a glorified trash can." He blushed, realizing he was rambling. "Sorry...I got carried away."

Sjhe gave him her winning smile, and he felt the warmth in his cheeks grow. "It's okay, I'm glad you're happy." She paused, her smile faltering slightly.  _Don't frown. I'd do anything to make you smile._ "Are you okay Cloud?"She inquired offhandedly, biting her lip anxiously. 

He frowned, looking up at her house and stopping in front of the picket fence. "Yeah, why do you ask?" 

She turned, her turquoise flats kicking up the summer dust that would soon become a hardened sheen of ice. "No reason. See you tomorrow Cloud." And just like that she was gone. 

 _Did I do something wrong?_  He thought as he turned to face his house, groaning at the sight of the cop car. That ment either officer pig-face was hanging around to harass him or Isa was trying to convince his mother to get her husband to stop drinking. Approaching on the sidewalk he glowered up at the fat man who's pig face smiled down at Cloud maliciously. "Hey, brat, I hope you're not causing trouble. Hehehe..." 

"No, if you're wondering, I haven't seen your son spanking it with your porn magazines on your bed. Not at all." He drawled bitterly, attempting to walk past the man, but Sheriff Atchterberg decided to shove his swollen gut into Cloud's face and diminished any possibly of walking away from this unscathed. 

"What did you say, boy!?" He roared, spit flying from his lips. 

"I said the Dirty Sanchez you call a face looks as lovely as ever." He snapped, ducking past the other side and swiftly escaping into his house. 

"You- rotten brat! I'll get you one day!" The man cursed outside, letting out a slew of swears that ought make his grandparents roll in their grave. His mother stirred on the couch, blinking at him wearily and inching away from the light.

"Sorry ma." Cloud closed the dark curtains (with mild satisfaction at seeing Atchterberg's appalled expression as the man stumbled towards the door) and returned to her mother's side, taking the melted icepack from her arm and taking it into the kitchen. 

It's the least he could do....for being so weak. He was about to bring another to her when he heard, "Cloud, I'm going to get some sleep." And the inner structure of the worn couch sighing in relief as she moved through the kitchen and into her room. 

Cloud stared at the door as it closed, pausing mid-step and stayed focus on the wood, where there were a few deep scratches from when his mother was trying to claw her way into the room where step-pa isolated himself during an argument, and similarity there were a few shallow dents from where his fist had connected with the door door during said fights. 

Retreating back into his room he let out a breath he hadn't knew he was holding, dropping his book bag down he frowned at his own door- his room in one tediously slow spin. It was so barren it was almost...unwelcoming. Frowning he slid his window open and stepped outside and inhaled the cold air deeply; stepping down onto the small blades of grass he began to walk on the sidewalk to go to the mountain.

"Uh...Cloud..." Cloud blinked at Benjamin, who ran his hand through his dark hair nervously. "I just wanted...to say I was sorry. For, you know, calling you stupid."

"Among other things." Cloud dralwed flatly, impatiently looking back up to the mountain. 

"Are you mad at me?" He asked, slightly bolder and stepped into his field of vision stubbornly.

"No- not you." Was all he said, still looking up at the mountain. He really didn't want to talk to anybody at the moment- he just wanted the cold snow of Mount Nibel, maybe if he was lucky he could see a few hares that should be letting their young into the wild by now. "What do you want?" He could already hear the whispers from the bystanders that watched curiously.

_''That child is a cold hearted demon...so unlike his father.''_

_'Wow, the ice prince is so cold.'_

_'Yeah, guy's pretty cruel. I hear he kills the wild animals running around and eats them raw.'_

_'Gross!'_

_'Yeah, they say he's like a rampaging monster, and'll punch you without a second thought'_

_''What's that Benjamin doing?''_

_''Goodness, I hope the devil isn't going to hurt him.''_

"I want to be friends with you." 

"Huh?" Cloud blinked again, pushing back Benjamin's brown hair with a hand, he checked for injuries. "How hard did you hit your head?" 

"I didn't. I want to be friends with you." Dark brown eyes looked back at him in determination... Well as much determination as an eight year old facing a lone Nibel Wolf could have. 

Rubbing the back of his neck shyly he glared down at the dirt that was settling down on his shoes. He didn't deserve a friend did he? Of course not! He couldn't protect Tifa, or stand up for his mother- he didn't deserve friends, let alomn one. But how was he supposed to explain this? "I...guess...but I'm a pretty shitty friend." He tried honestly. Maybe that would caution Benjamin away.

He smiled, rocking back and forth on thew heels of his sneakers. "Cool, so, why don't you use your door?" 

"I'm completing my life long dream of jumping out a million windows." He deadpanned and watched in bafflement as Benjamin bent over and howled in laughter. 

"You're silly." He giggled, steadying his breath. "So, where you headed?" 

Cloud shoved his hands into deep into his pockets and tried to ignore the warm feelings swelling in his stomach when Benjamin smiled at him warmly. "I was gonna take a walk up the mountain."

"Okay lets go, I'll race ya!" He bolted off, leaving Cloud looking after him with an air of idiocy. 

Realization dawning, he let out a panicked squawk of indignation, shouting after him; "no fair! You got a head start!"

* * *

May Merryweather sighed, shuffling the small folder of paperwork given to her by the headmaster. She had rambled longer than she needed to about topics that many of the conservative folks of Nibelheim would never approve of. She couldn't help but smile when she thought about her students- they were already proving to be a curious and incentive bunch- which was encouraging for an old woman her age. With a push and a shove they could take hold of the lessons she had planned themselves, and that was better than any education that could ever be provided in a classroom.

She couldn't wait to see how they would grow by the end of the year- every month counted in developing them into proper young adults and future outstanding citizens. Hopefully they'd all grow old to be liberal folk with their own grandchildren in the distant future.

Cloud Strife. 

She opened her folder, staring down at the picture of the frowning blonde, his upper lip bleeding and a dark bruise forming over his eye. Most of the papers in the folder were his- medical reports, police reports, and various other documents that had nothing but bad to say for the youngling- which was odd because it contradicted how he held himself in the class; a shy, timid person, reluctant to let others be around him. 

The way he hesitantly accepted Mila's offer by blushing and ducking his head suggested that he'd never been the subject of affection, which delved into his medical reports. 

Four foot five, blonde hair, fair skin, blue eyes, only child of his family of three had been brought to the clinic seventeen times starting at the age of three, which put a five year difference between then and now. But it a small difference. Barely there. More concerning was the fact that he was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder a year ago due to an incident in the school bathroom which he was found unconscious with a broken hand and had no recollections of the event according to Deputy Isa Charles whose reports stated that Cloud's memory lapses indicate that similar events may have happened in the past. 

It really made her sick. 

She folded her hands underneath her chin and scowled. Brain Atchterberg was the instigator of these constant brawls- apparently an incident with a Tifa Lockhart a Month ago was the new excuse, but after the most recent occurred, Cloud was sent to the clinic with various injuries of concern and was never treated, as opposed to the two others who were given pain killers and one even had surgery for his broken finger. 

The only time he had even been administered medical treatment was when he broke his hand. 

Something was going on. 

Closing her eyes she sighed. He would take some work- building trust between them because he obviously felt that school wasn't a safe place for him, even if he never remembered the pain of association was still there. Adult are supposed to care for children- even if they weren't their own, Children were supposed to associate adults with safety in their environment, and when their environment proved to be dangerous they became introverted and resentful. 

At this rate he could either cut himself off completely and take his frustrations out on himself or take his frustrations out on others. She thought back to the determined expression he had when he was playing with his peers- he was trying his hardest for them, even though she could tell most of them had been the source of his torment. She chuckled, recalling how Benjamin especially faltered under that intense gaze. Already she could tell that whoever stood in his way would be completely crippled when he was done with them. 

 _"Miss Merryweather?"_ Benjamin called, his confident voice cracking slightly. 

"That is my name." She smiled as the rest of the class left with their belongings. "Is there something ya'd like to talk about?"

He had nodded, looking up at her adamantly. It was a good quality to have-  being able to ask questions would help him in the future. "Cloud." 

"I see. Y'all don't know each other very well, I take it?" She ran a hand through her curly hair, resisting the urge to smile as the thick strands only let her rub the surface.

"No, I got into a fight with him once, but he didn't remember." 

At the time she had been confused at his words. "Didn't remember?" She looked out the window, spotting the familiar untameable crown of spikes next to a head of long brown hair.

"Yeah, Brian says he never remembers anything so that's why he gets away with fighting all the time." He hesitated before he added, "he gave me the same look, I don't know what happened. He fought like...I don't know." His hands dropped to his side helplessly.

"Well, if y'all had the time to look, ya'd find that he's not one to haphazardly toss his weight around." She chuckled, erasing the chalk on the board with a rag. Glancing down to find him looking up at her in confusion, so she continued. "Haphazardly means to do something without trying your hardest. When y'all knocked him down he got right back up didn't he?" 

Benjamin's eyes light up in understanding. "Yeah, the fight lasted till Deputy Isa pulled us apart."  That was good, he was already finding unprejudiced qualities in Cloud already, it was sure to cause understanding in others.

 _"Then why don't ya try being his friend?"_ She recalled her words as she slung her purse onto her arm and locked the classroom door behind her. 

_"How do I do that?"_

_"Ask."_  Cloud would be a good friend to him. Maybe even help the boy step out of his shell. She shook her head. No, they were still young, only eight. They shouldn't have a single care in the world. 

"Miss Merryweather." She turned her head to look at a large woman who frowned at her with her bight red lipstick.

"Mrs. Fruhmann, can I help ya with something?" May smiled, turning fully to look at the older woman who taught grade three across the hall. 

"Your class was rather loud this evening. I hope you have everything under control." Her green eyes narrowed suspiciously and May couldn't help but sympathize with Cloud. If the citizens were like this towards foreigners, it ment they were more comfortable being crueler toward their own because prejudices could be established easier. 

"Oh, we just got a little carried away with the lesson. They're very smart children Mrs Fruhmann. We're lucky to have them. " May noted that she flinched away as the door that lead outside opened, and glanced to see an officer with dark hair tied up on his head walking in their direction. 

"Deputy, I don't recall the principal mentioning an appointment with you." The other woman crossed her arms over her chest. 

"I was hoping to speak to you, Miss Merryweather." He replied cooly, unaffected by her bitter tone. "But it's always a pleasure to see you Mrs Fruhmann." His voice was flat, but he might as well obliterate her grandparents grave with a cannon by the way he completely disregarded her. If she were any younger May would've giggled. It was as if he had perfected the art of politely telling someone to fuck off. 

She could already tell he and Cloud knew each other well, comparing how the boy had sassed to no one in particular when he missed the definition of a word that even confused educated adults to this day. Dare she even believe he tried to model himself after the Deputy. "Well, what would ya like to speak about?"

His eyes held a mixture of emotions for a moment- most likely from her accent- but he quickly became impassive as he said towards Mrs Fruhmann; "if you'd excuse us."  _I can't stand you, so get out of my sight_ were the words that silently rolled off his tongue, and May couldn't help but wonder what less appropriate phrases he could use to silently tell off another person. 

Judging by his appearance he was Wutain- or at least half Wutain- she could see he was well built and at the prime of his health in comparison to the large Sheriff, he was handsome and young, and they obviously clashed more than the other townspeople he already held little regard for. While May wondered how many similar thoughts he and Cloud shared the man began: "You may have already heard, but my name is Charles Isa," he used the traditional Wutain introduction, so obviously he was close to his heritage, she thought, "I was wondering if you said something to Benjamin and Cloud." 

She smiled a little wider- straight and to the point, another quality he and Cloud shared, though Cloud's terse utterings were more subtle and stitched into his attitude, though she could already tell he'd end up cursing when he was older, she quietly hoped she could steer him away from blandly swearing at someone. "Benjamin yes, Cloud no." 

"What did you say?" His eyes were observing her- analyzing her carefully. He was probably raised outside of Wutai, judging by how he was carefully formulating a series of possible responses to whatever she would say. 

"Unfortunately, I promised my students I wouldn't give y'all any personal information as long as it wasn't threaten'n." She chuckled as his mouth parted slightly. He may as well been gaping like a fish. "Don't ya worry, they're not gunna sock each other till they see pink." She assured, allowing her speach to flow more freely. 

He snorted, and the corner of his lips tugged upwards slightly. Hopefully Cloud wouldn't grow to be just as expressionless. He was quite adorable when he smiled. "I'm more worried they'll try to poke a wolf with a stick." 

"Those boys'll know better." She laughed. "Though I'm sure they already tried." 

He chuckled, a deep throaty sound and he suddenly look much younger. He was definitely in his late twenties. At least his mid twenties. "I wouldn't put it past them"

She found herself snorting, a and continuing towards the exit. "Figures. So those boys have a past?"

Isa made a face and nodded, waving to a man who nodded towards them as they passed she recognized as Mayor Lockhart. The mustached man paused in his step and turned, "oh, Miss Merryweather, how was your fist day?" Apparently, he decided to make small talk- which wasn't unusual considering she was recommended by the owner of a brothel, but that was another conversation she was sure to be discussed later.

"Quite productive, I managed to evaluate how much y'all already taught them and can focus on what they'll need work on." That seemed like a sufficient answer, and found it was because the Mayor nodded thoughtfully and glanced towards the mountain.

"That's good. Hopefully Cloud wasn't too much trouble." 

Cloud; it was rather humorous how the boy was given so much attention by the townsfolk, even though it was negative attention a wise man once said that hate was an odd way of showing how one cared. "On the contrary he works well with the other students and encouraged them to try their hardest as well. I'd even say he's a natural leader." 

There was an odd light in his eyes when her word sunk in and he gave an exaggerated nod. "That's good. Take care, the winter's coming early this year." He cautioned and walked away.

Isa regarded her thoughtfully before commenting; "The Mayor and Cloud have an odd relationship." Continuing as they walked along the dusty sidewalk to her house that was filled with so many boxes suffocated in tape thanks to her daughter she was so reluctant to go home. "They barely talk, but somehow they manage to speak entire novels." He chuckled.

"And here I was thinking he was closer to ya." She snorted, imagining the large man and small child having a telepathic communication with each other for hours and others watching in puzzlement. 

"What do you mean?" He cast her a side glance and quirked an eyebrow.

"Well, y'all are so similar I thought ya were his role model. Maybe even his father figure." 

He looked away, placing a hand over his mouth as they stopped in front of the two story, wooden structure. Was he...?

"Are ya blushing?" Well it seems an old woman her age could still make a youngster flustered for a moment or two. 

"Have a good day Miss Merryweather." He quickly walked away, the faint hue of pink clearly visible on his ears. Snorting to herself she she stepped into her house and sighed at the cardboard towers.

Maybe she should pay a visit to an old friend in the outskirts.

By the time she managed to wrangle the tape off all the boxes and stepped outside it was significantly colder, shivering she snuggled deeper into her knitted sweater (or as her daughter kindly called it a rainbow strobe light) and began walking towards the outer edge of town when a small figure walking on the sidewalk towards her, narrowing her eyes she could make out a dark halo of spikes. "Cloud?"

He looked up, his clear blue eyes wide with recognition as he slowed to a stop. God, that boy must be freezing in those thin clothes. "Miss Merryweather? What are you doing outside?"

"I could ask ya the same, son. Its late out." Somehow she felt like a teenager just caught sneaking out her bedroom window with her friends eagerly urging her on. 

"I couldn't sleep." He looked away, towards what she assumed was his house, seeing how there was an open window and a drainage pipe to compensate for his short stature. He looked back to her expectantly, and she couldn't help but grin when she thought of what face he would make when she told him. 

"I was going to visit a friend at the whore house." She bit her lip in bemusement when his eyes widened comically and his mouth parted slightly.

" _What_?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Started: 06/10/2015**  
>  Finished: 06/13/2015 ****
> 
> My god, I'm just horrible to little Cloud and his innocence. To clear up the whole bit with ' ''That child is a cold hearted demon...so unlike his father.''
> 
> 'Wow, the ice prince is so cold.'
> 
> 'Yeah, guy's pretty cruel. I hear he kills the wild animals running around and eats them raw.'
> 
> 'Gross!'
> 
> 'Yeah, they say he's like a rampaging monster, and'll punch you without a second thought'
> 
> ''What's that Benjamin doing?''
> 
> ''Goodness, I hope the devil isn't going to hurt him.''
> 
> Two apostrophes mean it's an older person talking, one means its a younger.
> 
> Anyways I'd like to thank you guys so much for reading and reviews, constructive criticism, compliments and whatnot, so thanks again, much love, happy reading and writing!


	3. Chapter III: Whore House

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I get the feeling that I don't belong here  
> But there's no welcome in the window anyway  
> And I look down for a number on my keychain  
> 'Cause it feels more like a hotel everyday
> 
> There's a stranger in the house, nobody's seen his face  
> But everybody says he's taken my place  
> There's a stranger in the house no one will ever see  
> But everybody says he looks like me" -Stranger in the House, Elvis Costello (some versions may feature other artist.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 06/13/2015 just to let y'all know I kinda dance a little on the rated M line in this one.

# Dollhouse

## Chapter III: Whore House

### Cloud meets Palmer and recalls a glimpse of his birth father.

* * *

Speechless and utterly gobsmacked, Cloud stared up at her with the expression of someone who was... well, an eight year boy who had just discovered his elementary teacher was visiting a brothel in the midst of night. Oh dear, she was such a horrible old woman and she knew it. "Why?" He finally managed after another long minuet if silence, warily looking towards said building May, who was trying her hardest not to laugh at the situation.

She calmly repeated, "I'm going to visit an old friend."

Cloud shook his head- which crushed her composure because _she_ was supposed to be the one scolding him for being out so late at night- and shoved his hands deep into his pockets. "You know wolves come down sometimes at night." He commented, and she quirked an eyebrow at the comment.

"Would you like to escort me then, son?" His eyes widened again, slouching further- another habit she was hoping he'd grow out of- he sheepishly nodded, allowing her to grasp his small hand and guide him down to the large building half the size of the manor, it's large dark windows letting out dull multicolored lights that were most likely flashing bright past the tinted windows. Palmer did love her privacy. May glanced down at Cloud, who looked up nervously at the infamous establishment. Hopefully he wouldn't be tempted by the vices Palmer presented to his customers- rather she hoped Palmer behaved herself enough to enlighten Cloud of the silent opinions of the world.

Hopefully instead of dismissing the morals others held he would at least acknowledge them and respect the less accepted customs of others.

in contrast to it's obsolete exterior, the interior Incubus was lined with steel beams on it's walls, mist swirling along the floor and curling around their legs as an eager house cat would, it's glass ceiling reflecting the array of colors and distorting them. A worker in a skimpy bathing suit top and shorts that had so many rips it looked as if it was held together completely by strings.

Cloud's eyes bulged slightly, before he impassively looked upon the woman who embraced her with a squeal, wrapping one glittered arm around her small shoulders and the other holding a tray of alcoholic beverages, titled slightly to accommodate the action. "You must be Grammy!" She exclaimed, her bright pink glossy lips spread into the widest smile. Taking note of Cloud she giggled and bent down slightly to run her manicured fingers through his hair. "You're adorable, is he one of your little Chocobo's."

"Chocobos'?" Cloud wrinkled his nose, watching her as she straighted herself and placed a hand on her hip. "The fluffy birds?" He added, the slight undertone of curiosity that made May wonder just what the boy was thinking. 

"Yes, the birds, now where can I talk to Palmer?" May gave Cloud's hand a reassuring squeeze, thanking the woman as she swung her head- large hoop earrings moving with the motion- towards a black door that had a colorful letters that read ' _step into the dungeon fuck twads_.'

Knocking, she head the sounds of various locks clicking underneath the head pounding music that virbated the steel beams and shook her old bones to the core, stepping into the dark room that she let her shoulders sink when the door closed and she was met with silence. 

Palmer glanced up, her luminous hazel eyes widening slightly as a young brunette who wore nothing but paint on her bare flesh gave a small bow and returned to the pale, black haired woman's side. "Well, call me a Chocobo and fuck me sideways, May Merryweather you don't look a day over sex in the city and thirty." She chuckled, her silver glittered eye shadow sparkling in the candle light. "Who's the half pint? Looks like he's got a fish up his ass." 

Cloud's mouth snapped shut as he retorted; "I was wondering weather you used fuzzy pink handcuffs or not." 

Holding back a snort, May shook her head- already she could tell this boy's sense of humor was warped, all sass, attitude and spunk. He would grow to be quite the young man in the future. 

Smirking, she reached for something obscured behind the bed a nude woman laid herself upon, the cool, acrylic colors splayed out upon her skin; spinning the mentioned object around on a long finger she purred; "usually we use them with the training thongs, but if you're into that half pint I might let you play for a while." She winked, grinning in satisfaction when Cloud looked away with reddened cheeks. 

"Now, now, leave him alone Palmer, he's still taking this all in." May urged, sending the woman a small smile that ruined the effect of her stern glare. "I wanted to talk to you."

Rolling her eyes she resumed painting on her employee, who shivered when the brush brushed her naval. "It's better he knows all this now then get his happy stick in the wrong hole- say pipsqueak, can you cook?" 

While he looked at her utterly confused, Cloud slowly shook his head 

She balked, standing from the stool where she sat and tossing her brush aside. "A man who can not cook, must clean after he shits; Jessie, could you take him to Kai, she'll help the midget out." Now at her full height, she easily towered over all in the room and assumed an air of command. 

Jessie silently left, taking Cloud's hand after giving a small bow and leading him through another door with an ungodly amount of locks on it. 

"Ya recommended me?" May sat on a chair she hoped was clean from whatever form of pleasure Palmer last performed on it, and observed as the woman made a gesture to the human canvas who pouted as she slipped into her clothes and followed Jessie. 

"Yeah, you didn't have any uncontrollable bowel movements when he called, right Grammy?" Sitting herself down in a leather chair that swayed on its rotating stand slightly when she propped her neon green heels onto the black desk that held small stacks of books Palmer's that had her eccentric imaginings in. "Don't worry about the little shitling, he'll be just fine with Jessie. Poor girl. Tech nerd stuck in Corneo's human trafficking trade." She clicked her tongue and procured a small cube with various colors. 

"Unfortunate." May nodded in agreement, allowing a comfortable silence to settle between them. "How have ya been?"

She laughed, running a hand through her short black hair, tossimng the cube into a pile of abandoned dolls, painted on and disfigured. 'Other than fucking up shit, and surrounding myself with lovely woman I ain't doing anything too new." She admitted. "Isa tells me that they're might be some mako drugs that some rich fucker is gonna pull out of his ass because of Shinra." She sighed. 

May frowned, shaking her head. Hopefully small towns could remain untouched- the neo-city however..."Many lives will be changed drastically." She solemnly noted, glancing over to the wall of a painting of a naked winged woman with platinum blonde hair being supported by skeletal figures that caressed her lovingly, while a strange bird overlooked the scene occurring on the watery rock bed. 

"Yeah, some of my girls are worried about their girlfriends." Palmer stood again, strode over to her and dropped one of her sketchbooks onto her lap. "His name is Cloud... Right?"

Skimming the various drawings she paused when she found the youngling drawn onto the page in wild pencil stroke and colored in with powdered pencil. It _was_ Cloud, but a slightly older one, his half lidded blue eyes staring heatedly into black soulless one's, his hair a shade paler and large snow crystals drawn onto his skin as if it were a part of him, pink lips brushing the dark cracked ones of what could only be described as death itself. She observed that it ended just at his torso, just below where the muscular pale arm of death wrapped around his abdomen where the faintest contours of developing muscles. Cloud's arm rested on top of Death's, his other parallel to his side and slender fingers interlocking with taloned ones. 

It was...almost hauntingly beautiful to look at.

"Where did ya get the idea for this?" She inquired, slightly breathless by the image before her. 

"They call him the Ice Prince." She shrugged, twirling a strand that curved behind her ear. "I think it's fucking hilarious, cause that has to be the warmest fucker I ever met." She laughed, flipping a few pages. "That kid's gonna be a beautiful fucking nightmare when he grows up." 

A beautiful nightmare... What an accurate description.

"Ya may be more right than ya think." She chuckled, looking down to study the new drawing before her. It was Cloud again, though much older, holding a single white flower in his palm and his lips hovering over it, around it swirled small orbs of light that eagerly flocked to his hands, a larger set covering his eyes as he sat amongst the snow and black rocks with only a decorative snowflake markings on his skin being the only thing he wore. 

"His step-sperm donator comes here often." She commented offhandedly, fiddling with her black corset. "His ma isn't 'around', around, if ya can ride my drift." 

Frowning she set down the sketchbook, and leaned back on the chair she sat in. "They're drifting?" That was disheartening, no wonder he was distant towards other. But she new she could trust Palmer to know her information- she probably already knew more about Cloud than he knew about himself, once that woman became interested in something it became almost an unhealthy obsession. A burning desire to fish every detail out of every source and when she was done she would step back and admire her work, then move onto the next project with the same passion. 

"Has been ever since his real pa left, charming twat. Had his eyes." She smiled, twirling silver necklace on her finger. "I talked to him just before he left, ya know? He really didn't want to leave, but for some reason he just had to." She sighed wistfully. "It was a tragic kind of young hormone induced passionate romance." 

Cloud must've been young when his father left- otherwise she would've seen signs of abandonment in his behavior. "So she's young?"

"Horribly." Palmer grinned. "I ain't into stretch marks, but she sure was a looker after he was born." Then she scowled and snarled; "that fucker she remarried wasn't a bad sucker at first, but then he got bitter, drunk every night..." Her nostrils flared in anger, "he hurt Cloudy once." 

May waited quietly as the woman's nails raked up and down her steel wall with spite. Palmer knew Cloud in a peculiar way. Knew his life. Emphasized with him. Understood his pain from her long history of abusive relationships. In a way Cloud was one of her children. As was Jessie, and every other employee under her care. She may even harbor more love than her mother ever did. "Should we go check on him?" At least now she understood why Cloud had insomnia- while he most likely had no clue his step father had ever hurt him, his subconscious was reminding him that he was no longer safe there. 

"Sure thing hot momma." She wiggled her eyebrows humorously, leading the way to the now unlocked door and stepping into a kitchen like area where Cloud sat in front of an oven and peered through the dark glass. 

"It won't be done till five more minuets." Jessie teased softly, leading him back to the counter where three other girls lapped up the left over batter of whatever they were baking.

"But I want it to come out good." He protested, looking back to the oven anxiously. 

"Don't worry Cloudy, it'll come out just fine." A strawberry blonde giggled, licking her spoon that had a helpful of batter on it. 

"What kind of meth are y'all cooking?" Palmer asked, leaning slightly to gaze into the oven. "Cookies?"

"Pancakes." The woman who Palmer had painted lush green hills on answered.

May blinked. "In an oven?"

"In an oven." Cloud affirmed, licking batter off a spoon that was offered to him.  

Well he seemed right at home as the woman she could assume was Kai judging how she had been the only one to cover herself with an apron offered him some chocolate chips while another began working her fingers through his untamed hair. She was amazed- in the long hour he left he had managed to befriend these ladies and come to a silent understanding with each other. While she was curious how they were brought closer, it wasn't her business to pry.

"Just don't make my house go boom." Palmer snickered, ruffling his hair and smiling down at him affectionately, 

"Sure thing sugar mama." He grinned watching as Palmer's eyes widened and glowed brighter as a pink hue dusted her ears. 

Palmer shook her head, flicking his forehead. "Aye, nice one little shitling, brownie point for you." She walked over to the over, pulling out an oven mitt and placed the bronze cakes onto the table as the steam wafted up to tickle her nose. With a mischievous grin Cloud quickly scooped one off the pan and scarfed it down, licking the corner of his lip where a little chocolate had smeared. "Oi! Wait like everyone else!" 

"Did you put crack in this?" One girl asked, deadly serious as she chewed on her second pancake happily. May couldn't deny that the pancakes were delicious, despite the unconventional method that was used to cook them, she watched as Cloud puckered his lips and tease that they may or may not have. May chuckled to herself quietly.

It was as if they were already one big happy family.

* * *

Palmer- despite her quirky nature- was a child at heart, Cloud soon discovered, staying his hardest to sit like an inanimate object as Palmer trailed the cold tip of the brush along his pale flash and painted whatever imagining she desired upon it. "What do you think of my girls?" Palmer quired offhandedly, spreading silver paint along the side of his neck. 

He paused, tilting his head slightly. He didn't quite understand what they had told them and he had been completely honest when he said he didn't care when they finished, because it simply didn't matter. "They're nice."

Smirking, as if she was reading into his very thoughts she continued; "What do you think of me?" 

There was a lot he could say about Palmer- how she was a walking contradictory of statements and claims that moves in a cycle of desiring to be alone and having the girls lock the doors, then feeling claustrophobic until the girls were asked to lock the doors again. The only thing that was a constant was her artwork that she pursued with such fervent obsession that it even made Cloud wary of her ambitions. "You're different." Was all he could say.

After their pancakes Palmer had the three of them- Miss Merryweather, Palmer and he into her office while the other girls finished closing the brothel. "I am Cloudy. You're different too ya know." 

He snorted bitterly. "Yeah, everyone makes that pretty clear." He was the weakest- he couldn't even stand up for hi mother, let alone keep Tifa from falling off the bridge. He was

"Strong." 

He almost reeled away from her- as if he was burned he hissed; '"No, I'm-""

"Warm." 

_Ice Prince._

"Caring."

 _Demon_.

"Kind."

_Girly._

"Cloudy." Palmer, cradled his hand as if her were a small shard of ice that could break under the smallest of stress. "You're different, because you're better." With her other hand she set down her brush and guided him to her large mirror, and a lump formed in his throat that made him unable to speak. 

"I'm..." He stared back at the blue eyes boy who met his gaze- it was him, he realized, though there were dark blends that made his cheekbones more prominent, and his chin more angular- while he did look older, nearly masculine, his large eyes and long eye lashes made him look feminine, doe-eyed. A pattern of snowflakes drawn onto his skin made him look as if he really were an ice demon. His hair- it still stubbornly sat on his head, but the long strand at the bottom fell and curved outward on his neck. It was different. 

He didn't understand it. 

He didn't understand at all.

Cloud blinked, sitting up as he registered that he was in his room, underneath his covers. He wondered if visiting the brothel had just been something he dreamed- then he should seriously check online to see if there was something wrong if he was dreaming about making chocolate chip pancakes in an oven; prusing his lips, he carefully plucked a folded piece of paper off his bedside dresser and sighed in relief as he did so.

_Jail Bait,_

_Next time you come over for oven shit cakes and chocolate milk, don't fall asleep with your thumb in your mouth in my lap._

_-P_

Wrinkling his nose he tore the note and shoved it into the bottom of his trash bin, wondering what Jail Bait was he made a mental note to search that up on a computer when he had the chance. Dragging his feet, he shuffled towards his bathroom. 

There was no trace of paint left- no evidence that it had ever been there. He ran his hand along his face- it was still round, girlish, moving to poke at his cheeks they were still the kind he heard aunts liked to pull when they'd visit. He paused. Did he even have an aunt?

Dressing himself, he jumped out his window and blinked down at quickly browning grass that had been a vibrant green the other day. Autumn must finally be taking effect, he mused as he looked up to see Benjamin and Tifa quietly standing on the sidewalk, looking at him grimly. "Hey...guys." He greeted hesitantly. 

"Cloud, are you okay!?" Benjamin exclaimed, frowning at him worriedly.

"Yeah...what's going on?" They had played together on the mountain- even though Benjamin had declared him a 'big softie' for showing him where the most snow hares could be found, but in Cloud's defense the juvenile rodent had snuggled up to him first. 

"You don't know?" Tifa frowned, playing with her hands absently.

"No."  _Please don't forwn. You're beautiful when you smile._

"Tifa!" One of her threesome called, the other two glancing at each other curiously. 

Hesitantly, Tifa turned.  _Please don't leave, I'm sorry._ "I'll... See you guys later. Bye Cloud, bye Benjamin." She glanced at him with her dark red eyes before quickly running off, 

"Cloud, how can you not know- the entire town knows!" Benjamin waved his arms frantically, beginning to lead the way to school. 

Resisting the urge to remind him that one one had told him yet he stayed silent, watching as Benjamin gave him a few solemn glances. 

"Your dad was killed this morning." He finally explained. "The sheriff tried to bring you in for questioning, but the deputy wouldn't let him."

Cloud froze. He was what? "Dead?" 

"Are you okay?" He asked again.

"Its not like we were close or anything." Running his hand through his hair he bit his lip in thought. They weren't- in fact he had trouble imagining when they were ever in the same room together. Though sometimes he thought he saw glimpses of his enraged expression, but it had only been a thought, but...

"Oh..." Benjamin stepped aside, and pulled the door open for him. "Well, okay. Do you want to hang out this afternoon? We can watch movies at my house if you don't feel like playing inside." He offered.

Another persons....house? "Uh...okay." 

"Cool!" He beamed, walking side by side with him into the class where MIss Merryweather fiddled with a record player. 

"Now, now class, mosey on to your desk." She urged, the soft melody of a saxophones' reaching his ears and warming him with familiarity. His mother smiling and laughing as she sat next to a worn and dented CD player, a tall man with long wild blonde spikes atop his head in a golden crown smiling down at her and kissing her affectionately before bouncing over to him and lifting him up.  Was that his... 

Shaking his head he tried to absorb himself in timetables- because that was the only thing that made sense anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Started: 06/13/2015  
> Finished: 06/14/2015  
> For some reason I had so much trouble writing this chapter. I tell myself "hey, just take a break' but then I get bored.  
> Boredom is the enemy.


	4. Chapter IV: Birthday House

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Come on skinny love just last the year,
> 
> Pour a little salt we were never here,  
> My my my, my my my, my-my-my my-my...
> 
> Staring at the sink of blood and crushed veneer. "-Skinny Love, Bon Iver.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 06/14/2015 Disclaimer, I do not own anything because all the characters would be homosexual, psycologically questioning and rated xxxxxxx .u.

# Dollhouse

## Chapter IV: Birthday House

### Cloud celebrates his birthday for the first time and makes an oath. Palmer reflects over meeting Cloud, and Isa discusses teaching Cloud more about the world.

* * *

"Happy birthday!" 

Staring down at the ornate icing on the cupcake, then back up at his class that surrounded him with grinning faces he looked down at the cupcake, his class, then back at the cupcake, the his class, and again at the cupcake. "Uh...what?" Whose birthday was it? His mouth fell open when the other's expressions became one of disbelief- it was August nineteenth, according to his birth certificate Isa had let him look at a few month's ago when he had small inquires about his father (and his lack of reaction when he found that only his mother's name was recorded) it was the day he was born. Seeing how he forgotten again he felt warmth spreading to his cheeks as he nervously fidgited under their gazes.  "Oh...thanks guys...really you didn't have to."

"Of course we had to!" Benjamin protested, playfully punching his arm from where he stood at Cloud's side. "It's your birthday, silly." 

"But what's so important about that?" It was no big deal after all, it was nine years ago he was born to a woman who was entranced by the woes of young love and wild life. 

"Because it just is!" Jeffrey huffed, placing his hands onto his hips and stared sternly up at Cloud who met his gaze with the same challenging intensity. 

"Cloud," Miss Merryweather started, placing a small candle into the icing. "Birthdays were originally created to ward off evil spirits, people that change brought evil spirits around them, so noise makers were to scare them away- candles have the same purpose, but more so to acknowledge their gods and send a message to them." 

"Send a message?" Cloud repeated, observing the number nine candle as it was lit. How could a blue stick of wax signal a being of higher power. 

"Like a wish, or a prayer." She continued, giving his shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "So make a wish."

He stared down at the candle biting his lip. It hardly seemed Luke the time for celebrating- his father dying earlier in the morning he was sure his ocasional hunting company would be making an ode to memorialize his death already. Had he ever celebrated a birthday before? _"Hey Cloudy- grow big and strong so you can protect them okay?"_ The man with clear blue eyes laughed, grinning widely. " _Of course you don't have to...but I don't want you to let your mother cry when I'm gone._ " Their foreheads bumped together. " _Okay_?"

"Cloud?" Miss Merryweather called, looking concerned. "Do you know your wish?" 

Taking a deep breath he nodded, glowering down at the cupcake before him as if he could make the melting candle in it's center be incinerated in a blazing inferno of fire. Blowing with all his might he watched in satisfaction as the small fire flickered out- he had to grow strong for them...so he couokd protect them. He could do it. He would do it. Even if he had to sell his soul to the devil himself. 

The class exploded into applause, though cut short by the bell a few other students lingered around to congratulate him- and he felt so fucking good. If he could he would grow wings and fly... He'd show them what it was like to fly too... "So, bunny snuggling, or movie night?" Benjamin grinned, a slight skip in his step as they stepped into the hallway. 

"You babies going home to play with your dolls?" A familiar- almost nasal voice chortled from behind him and Cloud snapped his head back to glare at Brian- the Sheriff's son who had been getting special treatment ever since he was a child despite being a nuisance. _He's just being a boy_ , most would say. Unlike his father, Brian was naturally big-boned , with dusty brown hair and a year older he was the bane of Cloud's existence and the instigator of almost all his fights.

"Didn't you hear Brian?" He began snappily. "We're going to wrestle dragons. You can come along if you don't piss your pants." He forced the last part out with a snarl. 

"Buzz off Brian! It's not cool!" Benjamin declared, balling his fist that trembled with anticipation.

"Whatever wusses, when you get some real balls come find me." He challenged beginning to walk away.

"That's funny, I didn't think you had any." Cloud snarled, smug when Brian turned to look at him enraged. "You must be pretty stupid to now about puberty Brian." 

"Puberty?" A bystander inquired. 

"What the heck is that?"

It's not like Cloud knew much about the topic itself, but thanks to his vague searches on the internet he had a pretty vague idea of what it was. 

"Why you-" suddenly black filled his vision and Cloud felt his enthusiasm drop when no one other than Deputy Is a Charles sent Brian a chilling glare that would make Shiva herself shudder- then shrank back when he received a very similar glare, "Boys." He began in his usual even tone. "I hope you aren't starting fights on school premises." The stocky Wutain quickly scattered the crowd gathering and Brian was quick to back off and smile. 

"Of course not Deputy Isa, we were just having a friendly chat, that's all." He smiled sweetly, though he slightly faltered when Isa's jaw hardened and his muscles twitched under the skin. 

"Of course Brain, but I recommend having 'friendly conversation' when school hours are still active." He drawled flatly, silently ushering whatever he could slip into the undertone of his words. Pointedly, he turned to Cloud who resisted the urge to bolt out the door despite knowing Isa would have no trouble catching him and dragging him back to his office by the ear as Brian and his lingering pals that hadn't dashed out of sight when Isa fist arrived left the now empty hallway. 

"Cloud, I already talked to you more than enough times about fights," he began, like he did most lectures. 

"But-" Benjamin began to protest but was quickly silenced by the Deputy's stern glare. 

"That goes to you too Benjamin Walker, both parties are guilty in whatever ridiculous fights that go on, no exceptions." He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "This isn't how I wanted to say happy birthday." He muttered.

 _Was he disappointed_? Swallowing his pride, he exclaimed ; "I'm sorry!" 

Isa reeled back, staring down at him with wide eyes and his mouth agape slightly. Glaring down at his shoes Cloud couldn't blame him- he never apologized, because that ment admitting he was wrong. Admitting he was actually just as pathetic as people thought of him. Slowly he smiled, ruffling his hair affectionately, the same way the girls had the other night. It was comforting. "I'm... Really proud of you." He confessed. 

Cloud couldn't help but smile back- Isa had never said that befor Ie, no one had ever said that before. Maybe this is what actual birthdays were like. If they were, he'd ask to celebrate his more often. Maybe he could try something for Tifa's birthday next year as well. Maybe a gift... Maybe Isa would like a new toolbox. But maybe when he actually could get the Gil for such gifts...

"If you boys don't have anything planned, I'd like to talk to Cloud in my office for a minuet, you're welcome to come along Benjamin." He offered- and for once he wasn't going to the police station for another fight, or a lecture. Just a pat on the back and small talk. 

"No thanks, Mister Charles, see you later Cloud!" He waved, running down the sidewall to where he lives. 

"How was school?" Isa scratched his cheek after they walked side by side in a moment of silence.

"Pretty cool. Everyone's pretty nice." Cloud replied, steping into the large white building that was mostly empty besides the security guard drooling over his keyboard in a daydream. "We talk about some pretty cool stuff."

He made a grunt of acknowledgment, stepping into the open office space that was organized and free of clutter despite Cloud's beliefs that Isa had some obsessive disorder with order, Isa argued that there was nothing wrong with wanting to be in a clean environment.

Usually he'd agree, because he'd never let his room past a certain point of clothes vomit and preferred 'organized mayhem', but the duplicity and color coded tape markings Isa revered was taking 'clean' to an entirely different level of absurdities. "I'm gonna introduce this place to a baseball bat...once I get one." Cloud muttered, sitting himself down on one of the two cardboard cushioned chairs that made his backside hurt whenever he sat in the devil contraptions for too long.

Maybe he could just stop fights by making Brain in these things. 

"Like I would ever let you." Isa rolled his brown eyes, picking up a box covered in decorative wrapping paper. 'Here."

"You didn't actually buy me a dress did you? I was joking when I said that." Cloud grinned eagerly as he took the box and shook it- listening to it's contents rattle. 

"No, it's the underpants gloves you'd thought I'd look nice in." He drawled sarcastically, plucking and envelope off his desk he passed it to Cloud. "Here, you can open this first. Wrapping paper might be too stressful for you."

Sticking his tongue out at Isa, Cloud untucked the fold and pulled out the card  running his fingers over the black brid lowering it's small beak upon to the petal of a pink tree, strange characters written down on the sandy parchment. "Wow...what does it say?" He peered a little closer at the odd letters. They looked hand written...

"Experience the beauties of nature, and in doing so learn about yourself." He explained. "It's Wutain." 

Cloud set down the card carefully, looking up to observe Isa carefully. He never talked about Wutai- never spoke the language, never wrote the language... So why, suddenly now... "Thank you." He said, putting all the emotion he could into his voice. "Really, thank you."

Scratching his cheek he glanced away for a moment. "You're welcome."

Tearing away the wrapping paper, and staring down at the box that the black tool box was inside of, as well as a chain necklace with an wolf- it's silver lips curled around a ring and small metal eyes staring up at him. "What's this?" He fingered the cold jewelry, eyesing the matching ring that went with it. 

"It's... From your father." He admitted. "It's part if his family crest. Your family crest." He sighed, sitting across from Cloud and continuing; "It means perseverance in effort- or it did at least. Crest no longer hold any significance." 

Running his finger over the ring he knew his fingers were too small for he nodded, placing it aside with the letter. Focusing on the toolbox he unceremoniously opened to study the tools neatly place inside he looked back up at Isa hopefully. "Does this mean you're teaching me how to fix cars and stuff?"

"Yes, but remember, being able to tinker with machinery is a privilege, one that shouldn't be abused. Understand?"  He gave another stern look and Cloud had a suspicion that'd he'd b hearing similar lectures in the future. "Also, Palmer wants to celebrate your birthday later, so I'll take you there later." He grimaced at the mention of the name.

"You guys don't like each other?" Cloud blinked, watching as Isa scratched his cheek once more and nodded curtly. "Why?" 

"She..." He took a deep breath before shaking his head. "Makes quite a mess." He finished.

...

"Stop laughing! Its not that funny, Cloud!"

* * *

Palmer stared down at the glass bowl meeting the glossy black eyes of the beta fish inside, memorizing the outline of it's scales, the small gap wherewhere it's gills sucked and released air from it's dark maroon and indigo hue, Palmer's bright hazel eyes fell onto Clara's who puckered her lips in the usual pout that secretly had no effect on Palmer. She had lost the ability to feel such things as pity and empathy long ago. "There's a fish in my office." She started flatly. "Clara, please tell me why you felt the need to put a fish in my office?" Normally, she would joke, swear, or whatever she could to not make her girls feel like they were being scolded but...

There was a fish in her office.

"Well, I thought Kai could make something with it, but then she told me to take it here." Clara explained innocently. "She said you're not supposed to cook Siamese Fighting Fish, but she doesn't look like a fighter." 

She supposed this was where she made a joke about blondes, or indigestion, but she settled on reminding herself Clara never had any formal education and had only learned to fluently read and write half a year ago. Then she wondered what an aquarium pet would taste like. "Tell Kai to cook it or I'll roast it myself." Palmer grinned, wondering what the fish would look like if it could fly in the clouds.

Cloud.

Laughing to herself, she quickly shooed the thought of a spikey haired fish swimming through the ocean away and instead focused on what a 'MerCloud' would look like. Nibbling on her nail she poked at the ring of water the bowl left on her desk and shaping it into an abstract flower; she fished- ha! Fished!- for her camera and snapped a picture of the image. 

She had never been good with animals- not since her step father took the liberty if beating their small pup with a bamboo stick until it bit him and ran away. Ever since then, it had always felt...wrong to be around animals. May said some psychological bull crap about being worried about hurting an animal because of some twisted part of herself that saw similarities between her and that bastard but...she shuddered, shaking her head furiously.

Chocolate- that was what she needed, good old fashioned chocolate. Unlocking her door- she couldn't decide weather oshe should buy more locks or take a few away- she was met by the stern glare of Ms Chef who had her hands placed firmly on her hips. "You can not fry or roast aquatic pets."

"Why not?" What was the problem with it- it wasn't as if she could get sick. Mako exposure saw to that. 

"Because they're for viewing pleasure, not your stomach pleasures." She snorted, but she still had that light of respect in her eyes because she had told Palmer before that she knew her employer was one of the most intellectual individuals on the planet. She could've laughed to herself at the mere thought.

Take that hard ass Isa.

Shame her funds would go down a small portion die to the death's of one of her regulars- but it wasn't a terrible loss. The death of blue nuggets was probably one of the least interesting tidbits of information circling the town- rather how she had recently discovered some interesting dirt on the Sheriff. 

Isa would be all over it if he ever got wind if what she knew.

Or maybe he'd be all over her.

"Miss Palmer?" Jessie's soft voice lulled Palmer from her thoughts enough for her to realize that the bottle of chocolate syrup she was pulling out of the cabinets had exploded in her hands. Sneering she threw the bottle down and Kai was quick to pull Jessie aside to begin explaining the relationship between her and Deputy Isa Charles.Being one of her oldest employees, Kai truly was the only one that could tolerate her bullshit at it's worse. 

Isa Charles was one if those worst.

She was caught between the impulse to pull the man away from fretting over Cloud's mother- who was already too far gone, in her opinion- and kiss him passionately until he thought of only her, and breaking every single bone in his body with her fist. Unfortunately, she - and through a series of methodical explanations, empathized with the refusal of marriage he made die to the beginning of the war, since it had taken her some time to find the reason people 'loved', but she couldn't decide how she felt about the man.

He had a nice office- but it was too clean, orderly, and suffocating, but her step father would've appraised the small, neat space. Somehow, Palmer knew Isa shared her 'daddy issues'- his own father had neglected to stay after discovering his mother's pregnancy, and his Wutain mother was disowned from her family for her 'dishonorable' actions. 

Snorting she nibbled on her nail, finishing off the last lock to her door and moved to her sketchbook. Isa- despite admitting that he liked the attention Palmer gave him, was determined to 'help' Cloud and his mother die to whatever promise they made that day when she met the man. 

She hated that woman. 

She was beautiful- undeniably beautiful, kindhearted and a well rounded person, but she hated that woman to the point of wanting to strangle her. A pencil outline of Isa sat cross legged, his hair slightly longer and in a formal kimono robes in a Wutain inspired house- she knew there was something...strange... With their relationship.

The odd, sensitive moments they shared between extreme disdain were... Enlightening. 

Chuckling (to herself at the thought of Grammy frowning at the use of such words) she flipped a few more pages and smiled down at the one she had managed to convince Isa to model stripped down to the waist. He had endearingly blushed, but quickly retained his usual stoicism that irked Palmer to no end. 

She hoped Cloud would never become that aloof. He was fucking adorable when he smiled. 

He would certainly grow to be a gorgeous monster of a man, but she hoped he would have a small sensitive side reserved for those special moments she wanted him to experience. "Sugar momma, the birthday boy is here." Margret called from the other side of the locked door. 

Jumping up, she grinned, grabbing a lingerie magazine for the baby boy and promptly unlocking the door and stepping out to see Cloud listening to Clara who was retelling the odyssey that poor fish had taken before it made it's way here. "Oi!! No treats for the birthday midget yet- shitty fish stories or not!" 

"Hey sugar momma." He greeted, lifting his hands in a motionless wave, a small smile playing on his lips. 

Beside him, Isa wordlessly folded his arms over his muscular chest and raised an eyebrow. 

"Isa my love! You stopped foreplay with your office chair long enough to come and visit me!?"Palmer grinned, throwing her arms around his neck and ignoring the glare he gave her. _See Isa? I'm being a good girl for today. Not even you can take away this smile._

"Foreplay?" Cloud blinked in confusion- which was so fucking cute.

Isa coughed, pushing Palmer off him, he turned to Cloud. "Nothing you need to concern yourself with."

Merely raising a blonde eyebrow, Palmer knew that Cloud was silently telling him he was just going to look on the internet whenever he got the chance. 

May simply laughed, and shook her head. "Figures, so Palmer, what do ya have planned?"

Clapping her hands together- oops, looks like she forgot about that magazine- she eagerly replied; "cake, sugar induced commas, pin the tail on the hard ass-" She inwardly cheered when Cloud barked out a laugh and Isa sent her a glare, "more cake, and then lessons."

"Lessons?" Cloud cocked- haha- his head to the side questioningly.

"Martial arts lessons of course!" She waved her magazine around for emphasis.

"And it just aso happens to require a dirty magazine?" Grammy smiled, her eyebrow raised teasingly. Oh Grammy, you still got it. 

"Of course sexy momma, every pornographic magazine is vital when learning." She wiggled a finger playfully, watching with satisfaction when Isa slapped a hand to his face. 

She'd rather have those hands on her.

Damn. 

"Palmer?" Cloud watched her worriedly with his wide blue eyes, "is...something wrong?"

Looking down, she realized that the magazine was completely crushed in her hand. "I...need a moment." As fats as her enhanced speed would allow her she flung the heavy door opened and slammed it shut, glowering down at her tremulous hands. _Stop shaking. You don't need a man._

But she wanted Isa.

"Palmer. Open the door." Said demon's voice called wity it's full authority. 

"Go fuck your office pens." She snapped, sticking her tongue out even though he was on the other side of the thick wood. 

"Palmer." He repeated. "Open the door." A pause. "I told Cloud I would make sure you're alright." 

Damn. How could she ever argue with that?

Reluctantly, she opened the door and allowed the Wutain to step in, leaning back against her desk he watched as he wrinkled his nose at whatever he disapproved of in her room. "It smells like.." He started, but quickly trailed off and turned to face her. "Pull yourself together. This is supposed to be a happy occasion and if you can be there Cloud will worry."

Damn. He was really monopolizing her affections for the half-pint sweetheart.

Wincing, she dug her nails into the wood, craving a helping of chocolate more than ever. "I...hate you." 

He smiled-  _don't smile at me-_ his gaze softening slightly. "I know." 

Quietly they walked into the kitchen, where Cloud- the little bastard- was licking up her chocolate syrup like a cat. "So," he started. "You guys try out the fuzzy handcuffs, or are you saving them for the honeymoon?" 

Exploding into a fit of laughter, Palmer thought she heard Isa say; "...not letting you hang around those guys at the station anymore."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Started: 06/14/2015 ******  
>  **Finished: 06/15/2015 ******  
> Ya know, underpants styled gloves actually exist. Saw it on the internet.  
> 


	5. Father's Day Interlude

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 06/21/2015 IM GOING TO KILLL AO3!! Seriously this is the third time I accidentally posted something by an accidental click and slow loading browser!  
> Anyways happy late father's day.

Cloud groaned, feeling a small weight continuously pelting his forehead and opened his eyes to stare at a beady eyed creature with a long pink tail slapping down on his face. Rolling his eyes he grabbed the possum by the tail and watched as it played dead. "Thanks pal, I always wanted to wake up with a face full of possum ass." He drawled to no one in particular.

"Cloud!" Clara stumbled upstairs, her hair wet and draped over her shoulder. "Thank god you found it!" She walled right up to the possum and took into her arms, cooing to it as a mother would a child.

"Clara. Why is there a possum upstairs?" He was almost afraid to ask, but since Clara occasionally provided clear answers, hopefully this would be one of those times.

"I found the poor guy outside, he looked like he was freezing." She pouted, the possum nuzzling her finger lovingly.

"Clara." He felt his eyebrow twich. "You don't bring animals inside because they live to freeze their assss off outside."

"But there was a fox after it!" She protested.

Cloud blinked. "There are no foxes in Nibelheim."

"No I definitely saw a fox." She declared, scratching the possum's belly. "Orange fur, white tail and big ears."

That definitely sounded like a fox. "You know what, after I eat breakfast, use the computer and take a shower, I'll go outside- look for this fox and make sure the possum can go somewhere the fox won't get it." He promised.

"Yay! Thank you Cloud!" She bent down, smothering Cloud's face with a mixture of breasts and fur and walking back downstairs.

Sighing Cloud made his way to the bathroom before going down to the kitchen where Palmer sat wearing only lingerie covered him chocolate as she licked her fingers and Kai beat a bowl furiously. "Why are you covered in chocolate?"

"Because Isa's only weakness is chocolate." She grinned as if that explained everything.

"And you're going to approach Isa as a giant turd because....?" Cloud stared in dismay at all the empty bottles of choclatechoclate syrup that was soon drying on Palmer's skin.

"Because its fathers' day." She hummed thoughtfully, the syrup around her mouth cracking.

"What's that?" Cloud frowned, crossing his arms over his chest.

"The holiday when People show appreciation towards their fathers. " Miss Merryweather chuckled, closing the kitchen door behind her and openly blinking at Palmer. "'Why are ya... covered in chocolate?"

"Something to do with Isa." Cloud humed, and Miss Merryweather's eyes twinkled in bemusement.

"Figures." She snorted, turning to Kai. "What are you making?"

"Breakfast." She grunted, pouring the eggs yellows into a pan. "After Palmer's done acting like an idiot."

"So I have to wait for Isa to fuzzy handcuff her before I get any food?" Cloud groaned. "I'll go get him." No one separated him from his bacon. No one.

Ignoring the looks he was getting for walking around in his Chocobo print pajamas (a lovely gag gift Jessie gave him) he stormed right up to Isa's front door and banged his fist on it. "Isa! Hurry up! You're keeping me from my bacon!! Me want greasy bacon!"

The door swung open and the bare chested Wutain glared down at him as he ran a hand through his shoulder length hair. "Cloud. Its my day off. I'd like to sleep in for once."

"Yeah that's great, hurry up and stop Palmer from making chocolate extinct- I don't get any bacon until you do." The blonde grumbled, resisting the urge to laugh when Isa's entire demeanor changed at the mention of chocolate.

"She's doing what?" He honestly sounded curious.

"Something about fathers day and a fox-"

"You've seen it!" Isa's eyes widened and he spun on his heel, walking to god knows wear. "I swear I'll butcher that little...." He returned, dressed and with a collar grinding his teeth together.

"So there is a fox."

"Yes, I was taking care of it for the weekend because a friend asked me to, but it managed to take off it's collar and run off." He frowned, cautiously looking around as he presumable searched for said fox. 

"Who the hell keeps a fox?"

Isa sent him a warning glare before replying; "my friend."

"Will I ever get to meet him?" 

"I hope not."

"But you two are close?"

"You could say that." 

"So what does he do?"

"He's... A jack of all trades..." He answered with a grimace. 

"Is he older than you?"

"Probably."

"You don't know how old he is?"

"I do." 

"Then why won't you tell me?" He whined- and Cloud never prided himself on whining because Isa did exactly what he always did whenever the boy whined; tugged on his ears and topped it off with a pinch of the cheeks. 

"Don't whine." He scolded, looking up at the brothel with an expression of mixed emotions. "Where did you see the fox?"

"Clara saw it. I said I'd go looking for it later. After I eat bacon. That you're keeping me from with your old man walk!" He grumbled, pushing open the door and his jaw dropping once he caught sight of what was going on. 

"Palmer." Isa started after five minutes of dumbly staring at the woman. "Why are you and a possum covered in chocolate?" 

"That's the first thing you asked?" Cloud balked. "Jessie, why is there a fox humping our miniature vacuum cleaner?" Said fox shamelessly chirped aas the machine rocked back and forth. "And why is there glitter everywhere."

Miss Merryweather stepped out of the kitchen with Kai, carrying an impressive number of plates on their arms, froze, and walked right back into the kitchen.

"Is that cake on the ceiling?" Isa noted, tilting his head back to study a blob of chocolate and batter on the ceiling.

"You know what-" Cloud threw this hands up in the air. "I'm going to use the computer. Happy Father's day." 

Cloud happily spent the next hour looking at entire novels of code, typing furiously into his computer trying to undo the encryption on whatever the hell Specimen S was. 

"Cloud, you aren't hacking are you?" Isa's voice sounded from behind him, and Cloud cursed silently in an effort to stop the system from locking him out. "What did I tell you about hacking?"

"Well I should've waited till mother's day if you're going to hound him about that _Mom_." He heard Palmer joke.

"You know very well thatthat hacking is-"

"Not now _ma_!" He barked, urging his fingers to move faster. "I almost got it!"

There was a squeak of indignation when Isa yelped; " _Cloud_!"

"Well then _Mom_ , guess I'll have to help myself to your chocolate then."

" _Palmer_!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Started: 06/21/2015  
> Finished: 06/21/2015


	6. Chapter VI: Tifa's House

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "When you were here before  
> Couldn't look you in the eye  
> You're just like an angel  
> Your skin makes me cry  
> You float like a feather  
> In a beautiful world  
> I wish I was special  
> You're so fucking special" -Creep, Raidohead

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For some reason, I'm stuck in this weird love-hate relationship with Tifa, it's like you're a nice person, but you guys barely knew each other well enough to go '"you'll breaks promise with a friend'?  
> Anyways, Cloud is fifteen in this chapter (so is Tifa).  
> Also there's a minor POV switch between Cloud and Isa, just to let y'all know.

Diving forward he slammed his fist into someone's jaw- something hit his leg, and it hurt like hell, but he ignored it in favor of watching the smug look on Brian's face disappear. In an instant he was pushed to the ground, Brain above him and his fist slamming down onto Cloud's jaw as he flailed beneath him- Benjamin, bless his soul, shoved Brian back, hitting his lip when he was elbowed viciously.

Spitting out blood, Cloud was drowned in the cries of the bystanders who either watched in fascination, or panic as they called what he assumed was the police station.

His leg hurt- and god did it hurt- while his jaw throbbed, Brain scrambled back up and readied himself for another attack. While Palmer's lessons were nothing but a glorified ass kicking, he was satisfied to know he could throw a better punch after all the long exercises she put him through.

"That's enough."

Whatever deity sitting up in their palace must be laughing their asses off at his misery right now. Turning, he met the stern glower of Mayor Lockhart, making a gesture the one and only Sheriff pig face lead them away while Deputy Isa Charles folded his arms over his chest and frowned down at Cloud sternly. "Cloud, my office. Now."

"Now boys, you haven't been in any fights for over a year now, what changed?" Mayor Lockhart inquired, stubbornly, Cloud looked away to the water tower and crossed his arms. Like he'd ever tell him.

While he and Mayor Lockhart had no personal issues- though Tifa falling off the bridge seven years ago had been a silent serpent coiled up in a closet- he still couldn't stand to be in the man's presence for long.

Benjamin, with his usual telepathic fourteen year old abilities, followed the code of silence and only looked nervously down at his feet.

"Walker, go home. I'm sure your parents will have their own discussions." Isa's frown deepened and Cloud silently begged Benjamin to stay so he wouldn't be impaled upon a pike by these two if he were to upset them. Well, a metaphorical pike, but he wouldn't put it past them.

"Sorry Cloud."

Benjamin you bastard, he silently cursed as the boy ran off, leaving Cloud alone with the two raven haired adults that looked down at him in disappointment. He despised that word- disappointment- it made him feel unpleasant in a way he couldn't exactly understand why it made him sick with himself.

"Very well, though I want to talk to you later, Cloud." Lockhart left without another word, leaving Cloud alone with Isa who was wordlessly walking to the police station.

Swallowing down his pride, he resisted the urge to hold his head high and follow behind Isa, who occasionally looked back to give him that disappointed look that made Cloud want to curl up into a ball on the second floor of Incubus and never come down.

In a different situation he would've laughed at the reason he locked himself in the rooms the girls shared with him in the brothel- it had been a very uncomfortable conversation that ultimately ended with Cloud wearing a drincidentks to Palmer, and while he hoped the stupid thing suffered when it burned, the incident was...enlightening.

Miss Merryweather would have a field day disproving the use of such vague words.

While Ben turned into a stuttering, blushing mess of hormones, Isa looked as if he had been slapped by Palmer's fish (again), and Miss Merryweather said that exploring femininity would prove to be an educational experience, Cloud doubted giving Benjamin an awkward situation in his pants was very educational.

Fortunately for Ben, he recently submitted his paper on Mako last month, so hopefully Shinra's 'top notch scientists' would pull their heads out of their asses and give him an internship for crying out loud.

Sitting down on one of Isa's chairs, Cloud stared indifferently up at the Wutain, despite the fact that if demons were carpenters, they were probably the makers of these stupid chairs. "So, ya gonna ground me ma?"

"No." Isa rolled his eyes- originally the nickname was a jokejoke started by Palmer when Isa scolded Cloud for trying to crack into the rest of the encrypted files in Shinra mansion, but much to Isa's frustration, it stuck- sitting down at his desk and typing a few commands into his keyboard.

"Since every printer in town was disconnected by a mysterious party with my laptop-" giving Cloud a glare he continued; "I can't file any official reports for your record, so it'll be written down as 'a minor disturbance of peace'."

"It was an accident." He muttered, wondering how he was supposed to know that Isa's laptop had a connection to the entire town when he was only trying to pull a small prank of the two office printers he kept in his obnoxiously neat office.

"But you did it, none the less." He paused, his lips pressing into a firm line. "I'm sure the Mayor has something to say himself. You sshouldn't keep him waiting."

Groaning, Cloud stubbornly sank deeper into his chair. "Not interested."

"Don't be childish." The Wutain muttered, frowning at his nonfunctional printers. "Try?" He pleaded, looking back to Cloud indifferently.

"Fine." Sulking, he shuffled out the door, sending a glare to the Sheriff who glowered back before stepping into the sidewalk damp from the melted morning dew. Hesitantly, his knuckles knocked on the door and a lump caught in his throat when it was Tifa who opened the door.

"Cloud? Is something wrong?" She asked- finally he was taller than her, even if it was only by a few inches- and she now wore an odd leather ensemble paired with a bowl shaped and buckled hat.

"Cloud, come in."

Unsettled by the knowledge this was where Tifa spent most of her time- where she lived breathed and slept- he stepped through the doorway, careful to avoid any contact with Tifa so he could forget the sickness of guilt her beautiful face brought him.

"You wanted to talk?" He straightened his back, sitting down to where the large black ghaired man had gestured and swore that he would try his damn hardest not to be weak in front of them.

"Yes." He looked towards a photo- his past wife, before she had died- before his gaze shifted back to Cloud. "There is victory in defeat, you know."

Blinking in confusion, he stared silent and looked to Mayor Lockhart for explanation.

"A long time ago- though I'm sure Palmer and Miss Merryweather have told you this- there was a long war, much suffering and many deaths. " He reached back to a box by the recliner he sat on, snapping off the lock and producing a book with a worn black cover. "Many atrocities were lost to history- however, these possessions once belonged to your family."

His...family? Cloud reached for the book that was extended to him, brushing the delicate papers with his thumb, he looked back to the chest. "Did my... Real pa give you those?"

With a curt nod, Mayor Lockhart shut the chest close, and pushed it over towards Cloud who pressed his lips into a firm line.

"Is that all?"

"No." This time, Mayor Lockhart offered a small smile. "I talked to Isa, and we both agreed that you should come along for this winter's hunting trip."

The hunting trip? The one that every man went on to bring back the largest game for sport? "No fucking way." Shit- he didn't mean to curse, but... Damn.

Not even Brian was allowed to go- the first reason being that a weapon was required to go back on the trip, which required surprisingly strict paperwork for a small town, but that also ment that no one was shot in the foot every morning; the second reason was an unspoken one- for every participant under the age of eighteen had to have a supervisor... Who was usually a father, and since Brian's father was a fat pig (in more ways than one), he couldn't go- taking a deep breath and tightening his hold on the book he attempted to form an appropriate response.

"I'd be honored... Or something like that." Scratching his cheek nervously, he found interest in the dying fire in the fireplace.

Mayor Lockhart's stern glare diminished, chuckling, he replied. "I though so. Best not to keep Palmer waiting."

Nodding, Cloud stood, sending one last look to Tifa who was pouting with her arms folded across her chest- she must've not been allowed to go too, Cloud mused, wooden box cradled in his bruised arms and as an afterthought, wondered where the hell else he had been hit when he hadn't noticed.

"Cloud!" A familiar voice sang, and Cloud bit back a smile as he glowered at the dark haired teenager who stumbled when his gaze fell on him. "Sorry." He laughed sheepishly, and Cloud felt his lips streach into a smile.

"Traitor." He teased. Glancing down, he inquired; "what's with the letter."

"Oh," Ben looked down at the envelope before meeting Cloud's expectant gaze again. "I'll tell ya later, so what with the box?"

"I have to bury a body. They told me I had to do it by nightfall or I wouldn't get to fuck a goat." He deadpanned, shifting the book onto the lid as Benjamin's jaw fell in mortification.

"You're horrible!" He snickered, punching Cloud's arm playfully.

"Awe, don't be like that Benny, you know I wouldn't fuck any goats without my best friend there." He teased.

"Wow Cloud, I feel so honored." Rolling his eyes sarcastically as they approached the brothel- since Benjamin's parents had been initially against the idea of their son going there until Miss Merryweather talked to them- Cloud unlocked the door with the help of Benjamin and was greeted by an abnormally energetic Palmer, who was being watched my Miss Merryweather in bemusement.

"Hello Cloud, do ya have anything in mind for the hunt'n trip?" She asked, taking a sip of her tea and running a hand over her bouncy black hair.

"Whoa, whoa wait!" Benjamin jumped back and spun on his heel to face Cloud. "They're letting you go!?"

"No shit, shitling." Palmer grinned, clapping her hands together, "I can't wait to see the nice rug you'll bring back for me- I think I'll write 'Fucking Conformist' on this one!" She beamed, bouncing again in her ridiculously high heels- at fist he never understood the difference between an inch or two between the ground and your heel, but after Palmer forced him to walk around in small two inch lifts (and fell flat on his face until the girls stopped laughing and taught him how to walk without breaking an ankle) for two weeks he had come to respect the woman's impeccable balance.

"Who said you're getting a rug?" Cloud snorted, "only Miss Merryweather's getting one, and it's gonna say 'One Hot Momma'."

Snorting, she rolled her dark eyes and took another sip of her tea. "Figures."

"I'll get one from Isa then," Palmer beamed, her hazel eyes glowing brighter, "and it'll say 'Bedroom Wreakers'."

"Ew!" Benjamin laughed, masking Cloud's soft chuckle. "Keep it in the bedroom!"

"Ooh, thats a good one!"

"I'll be upstairs." Cloud called, smiling to himself as Miss Merryweather herself joined the banter. Sitting on the bed he shared with Jessie, he snapped open the lock and stared down at the contents of the chest.

An odd shield with the same wolf his ring and necklace had- though his fingers were still too small for the ring- a name in a language he vaguely recalled was ancient Gaian thanks to Miss Merryweather's extra tutoring- setting aside the Crest he stared down at the two worn handguns with papers beneath them, carefully peeling away the papers he saw that it was his weapons registration he carefully picked up one handgun and set into his lap.

It felt...strange.

And he was supposed to carry this. Slowly, he lifted it by the stock, jumping when the empty magazine fell out onto his lap he peered down at the button his index finger was on, and head a soft click whenever he moved it. "That's the magazine port."

"Fuck!" He glared up at Isa who was watching silently, picking up the fallen object he attempted to slide it back into place.

"Here." Isa knew he shouldn't be feeling remorse as he took the miniature shotgun from Cloud- which he made a mental note to himself to add some padding to the butt so the blonde wouldn't dislocate his arm when he fired it- and showed him how to properly equip the magazine (and chuckling to himself when he thought about how his 'brother' would be furious with such poor gun care).

The teenager- who still wasn't aware of just how quickly he was developing muscle, because Isa had been somewhat impressed by the purple mark he left on the Sheriff's son, though Cloud did look worse, sporting a black eye, cracked lips, bruised arms, legs and all- he quickly scolded himself for even thinking about feeling a sense of pride for Cloud's growth, even if he was a moody brat, he was still a smart brat.

May hadn't been completely off the mark about feeling what he could only guess what were fatherly attributes, he still couldn't see himself as one.

"Hey, earth to ma."

He really needed to talk to Palmer about that nickname.

"Are you okay?" Cloud leaned back on his bed- and to any other he would've looked genuinely disinteresteddisinterested as he fiddled with the black book he had occasionally seen Cloud's father shove into an already crammed bookshelf, but Isa could tell he was trulytruly concerned by the way his gaze was wavering from it's usual indifference. "You're usually not this distant?"

If Cloud were any younger- or had never been roughly jerked out of his shell by Palmer- he probably would've scoff and mutter 'not interested' and sink back further away, a younger Cloud would've looked upon the girls with annoyance whenever they stuck Chocobo feathers into his hair, or completely disregard Palmer's opinions- though he did burn the dress, Isa would never admit that he was the one to suggest it- just as Isa had been when he was a child.

There was a soft sniffle, and Isa inwardly cursed when he realized that it had came from him.

"Fucking hell..." Cloud's eyes widened and he scratched his cheek- another habit he saw in himself (and it made him question how long Cloud had been doing such)- "you aren't broken are you?"

"No." He scratched his own cheek, biting his lip and phrasing carefully. "I'm...just sad." Xing would've barked his usual laugh and tell him he had gone soft but...

He was sad.

"Uh...why?"

Great, now he was going to sound like some old man. Leviathan, please have mercy and drown me in a puddle before I say something embarrassing. "Well...I was thinking of how you've grown into a bright young man..." There, that didn't sound too bad.

Isa quickly had second thoughts when Cloud's eyes widened further and he sat completely still. "Damn..." He sniffled. "Don't say things like that."

Isa blinked dumbly as Cloud began to cry- because Cloud had never cried, no amount of pain and loneliness could make the blonde teary eyed, the last time when Cloud cried was when his father had...

Grinning, he continued:"No seriously old man, don't get all soft on me. You're supposed to be the tough guy, remember?" He looked even more like his father when he smiled like that. Now that Isa thought about it he was sure the man had said something along those lines to a much younger and naive self.

"As if." He grinned back as his younger self did, "this is just a demonstration of how big my manly heart is.

Cloud grinned, quipping; "you know Palmer would kick your ass if she heard you say that?"

Watching in bemusement as Isa's smile shifted into a frown of scolding he gently chided; "stop cursing." Flicking his forehead, Cloud watched as Isa put the oversized handguns into their chest. "The trip starts at nine, so I expect you to be ready by eight. And..." He paused, his expressioning softening. "Dress warm."

"Sure thing ma." Mocking a salute, Cloud snickered as Isa scowled and made his way downstairs.

Leaning back on his bed, Cloud faintly registered the sound of the door opening. "Cloud?"

"I'm fucking my pillow, give me a sec." He rose with a wry grin to look up at Benjamin who stood shyly in the doorway. "What's up?"

In his hands were the letter, and he tentatively sat next to Cloud on the bed. "I wanted to talk to you." Only receiving silence as a response he continued. "I got an internship in the Science and Research department."

"That's great." Cloud nodded, recalling the mako exposure theory he had saw Benjamin fussing over for days (though he had helped chase down the bunnies they had taged for the experiment, he would never take credit despite Ben's arguments) and sweated buckets over. "I told you there was no reason to worry."

"Yeah..." He took a deep breath, playing with the paper. "I...should just say it..." He muttered quietly, butting his nail anxiously.

Raising an eyebrow, he hoped that he wouldn't have to go through another emotional trek as he did with Isa a fee moments ago.

"I...like you."

"Okay." He stretched out the word, waiting for elaboration.

Flushing red Benjamin added softly. "Romantically."

Oh. "Oh." Wow, his speech was so eloquent at the moment. "That all?"

Benjamin's shoulders sunk. "That all?" He shook his head an sighed. "So, I just made a big deal for nothin'?"

Maybe that was too insensitive, so instead Cloud tried; "No, I'm sure Miss Merryweather would say something about self exploration of sexuality, expression and all that..." That wasn't what he wanted to say. "I'm glad you told me."

Thankfully, Ben smiled, looking relieved as he laughed, "I really got worked up for no reason. Thanks Cloud..." He looked away with his cheeks darkening once again.

"You're not going to ask me to wear a dress are you?" He teased, playfully slapping his arm.

His mouth dropped, openings and closing like a fish before he laughed. "So all the dresses can be destroyed in a 'mysterious' fire? No thank you." Shyly, he rested his head on Cloud's shoulder- which required him to slouch slightly due to being slightly taller- allowing the gesture Cloud studied Benjamin carefully, attempting to feel something other than the small comfort he had.

"I...just wanted you to know before I go." He continued. "You don't like me the same way, do you?"

"No. But I'm not completely against it." He answered honestly- in all their years of companionship he had just never thought about Benjamin...like that. There was his 'eloquent' vocabulary again. But this was easier...almost like they were just hugging or something.

"Then... can I kiss you?" Green eyes stared up at him in determination, as Cloud scratched his cheek shyly.

"Why not?" He could hardly understand why Benjamin would be interested I'm him, compared to all the others in their grade that were more romantically appealing- though for an instant he thought he saw himself looking in the mirror, and Palmer behind him. He looked older, and had been painted on too- which was nothing new except his younger self looked...somewhat like he did now.

Hesitant, Benjamin leaned forward, pressing their lips together and Cloud found it wasn't completely bland as he thought it would be. He could faintly taste mint (Benjamin did always carry around those horribly mints), and dully noted that Benjamin's lips were much softer than they looked.

"Ow." Benjamin grinned after their teeth accidentally knocked together.

"You suck." Cloud teased, adding, "don't most people use their tongues anyway?"

"No! I mean yes!" Looking as red as a tomatoe, Benjamin fumed and punched Cloud's arm with a pout.

"No seriously, you should see if you click with anybody in Midgar." Cloud folded his legs underneath him. "Nibelheim's a small place ya know, you should mindfuck the world while you're gone."

"Mindfuckery is more your thing."

Slapping his hands to his cheeks, Cloud feigned a gasp. "You cursed! Benjamin Walker, do you kiss your mother with that mouth?"

Rolling his eyes Benjamin snorted. "Like you're one to talk. Try to keep the swearing in your letters down to a minimum. I want to at least look a little professional."

"Good luck to you Professor Professional." He laughed, giving Benjamin an embrace. "Knock 'em dead, Kay?"

"M'kay." Stealing one last kiss Benjamin left with a wave, leaving Cloud alone to his thoughts.

He hadn't thought much about a relationship- of course there were the occasional thoughts if Tifa- since he was mostly focused on the extra books Miss Merryweather gave him and the exercises Palmer assigned him, but a relationship sounded nice.

Leaning back he thought back to Tifa- she was beautiful as always- and while he hoped that she would notice him more than the walks to and from school he needed to become stronger in order to seize her attention away.

Benjamin was a friend- granted one he may have had intimate conversation and implications with, but he was still a friend.

Shaking his head he smile up at Jessie who was fiddling with one of her newest builds Isa had helped her with. Metal and wires sounded good right now.

At least it made sense.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Started: 06/16/2015  
> Finished:06/17/2015


	7. Chapter VII: Hunting House

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I don’t wanna close my eyes  
> I don’t wanna fall asleep  
> ‘Cause I’d miss you, babe  
> And I don’t wanna miss a thing  
> ‘Cause even when I dream of you  
> The sweetest dream will never do  
> I’d still miss you, babe  
> And I don’t wanna miss a thing" -I don't want to miss a thing, Aerosmith.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know if y'all noticed but I'm on a writing spree despite my week interval updates.

# Dollhouse

## Chapter VII: Hunting House

### Cloud gets a long overdue visit from his mother, hears of General Sephiroth for the first time during the hunting trip and is rendered into a catatonic dream state.

* * *

Cloud groggily opened his eyes and stared at Jessie's flat stomach. Despite his body's protest he rose from the mattress and soundlessly slipped into the bathroom. Glaring at the hands on the Anniversary clock that spun it's intricate workings flamboyantly and reminded him that it was seven in the morning. Sighing he stared back at his reflection who frowned at him with his pink lips pressed into a firm line and ran a finger over his jaw that had gradually became more firm over the years- though he still had his tug-a-ble cheeks, at least he was putting on some muscle. 

"You done checking yourself out shitling?" Palmer yawned, pushing the door opened and reminding Cloud the woman had no sense of privacy. 

"Knock." Cloud grunted, wondering how Isa woke up an hour before at such an ungodly time in the morning. 

"Scared I'll catch you wanking it?" She teased, waving around a pair of thick winter clothes. "I know you'll bitch if it's too much, so I had a special order." She snorted, dumping the hanger on the floor. 

"Thanks." He grumbled, leaning slightly to give her a half hearted hug. 

"Be safe, and show those old geasers' what a young twat can do." She slapped him on his backside, striding out the door where he could hear the stairs creak under her heels. 

Readying himself in a blur he made his way downstairs and nearly toppled over his own feet when his own gaze met that of tired dark blue eyes. "Cloud?"

He pressed by is lips together tightly, feeling the lump in his stomach forming.  _Go away, why can't you keep ignoring me?_

Palmer sent a dark look to Isa who gave her a stern glare in return while he stood perfectly stood staring down at the blonde haired woman. "You should go. He obviously doesn't want to-"

"Palmer!" Isa hissed, wrapping his arms around her in an odd hug, and whispering to her quietly. 

"Why..." He swallowed thickly. "Are you here?"

Her eyes fell down to the two guns strapped to Cloud's chest, and she smiled sadly. "You look a lot like him..." She said quietly and Cloud felt his chest constrict.  _He would've protected you._ "I just wanted to make sure you were... dressed warmly... That's all." She took a step, but she paused, looking back to Cloud one last time before she left.

"Why was she here?" His voice was so soft he barely recognized it as his own. 

"She's still your mother." Isa slowly let Palmer out his his grip and turned to Cloud. "I know you blame yourself for what happened, but it doesn't change the fact she's your mother."

"No, she just happens to give birth to me." Cloud laughed bitterly.

Isa's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Cloud." He warned.

"What? Feeling a little bitter because mommy-"

"Cloud!" Isa stormed over him and Cloud's eyes widened a fraction- he wasn't actually going to- throwing his arms around Cloud's shoulders he embraced him tightly. _Why are you hugging me? You should be furious with me._

"I'm not going to hate you." He growled. "I raised you too, remember? I was right fucking there when you took your first steps, and I was standing right by you when you said your first words.  If you think I'm going to hate you for saying the truest things in my life you better learn really fucking quick that it's never going to happen." His grip slackened slightly. "You're..like a son to me..." He leaned back fully, his hands resting on Cloud's shoulders. "I could never hate you."

Damn. Everything would be so much easier if everyone stayed away from his because...he felt his shoulders sink in defeat. He wasn't strong enough yet. "I couldn't... do anything." 

"Cloudy." Palmer smiled gently, working abhand through his hair affectionately. "You're not supposed to _do_ anything. We're family, that means-"

"We take care of each other." Cloud frowned, scratching his cheek. Didn't that mean he was supposed to _do_ something?

"No it means if we fuck up, or say some serious shit about about out even shitter parents-" Cloud grimaced and looked down at his feet solemnly. "That we'll forgive each other for being shitty family." 

That made sense. 

"Come on, we'll go up to the moutain to meet up with the others." Isa smiled, clapping Cloud on his back.

"Be careful." Palmer grinned, pecking Isa on the lips. 

He blinked- idiotically- while Cloud let out a soft cheer of victory. Finally! The Wutaim chuckled, pushing back a dark strand of Palmers hair. "There's a reason to worry?" He teased, catching Cloud fake a gag out out of the corner of his eye. 

"With you two boys, always." She laughed, hands trailing down his arms. "'Bring me back a fur rug, twat." 

"Okay, we'll get the wedding gifts- we're gonna be late at this rate!" Cloud teased, sticking out his tongue and holding open the door. 

"And he calls me impatient." Isa sighed, hands lingering on Palmer's with a silent promise as he turned to follow Cloud out the door. 

"Hurry it up old man, I'd hate to drag you halfway up the mountain just because you threw out your back." Cloud grinned despite himself, causing Isa to roll his eyes.

"Yes, because at my age I'm more likely to throw out my back than be struck by lightning. Of course Cloud, because you're such a reliable medical source with a degree and everything." He drawled sarcastically.

"You're chatty." He noted with a wry grin. 

"What are you doing for college?"

 _Shit_.

"Cloud?" Isa sent him a sideways glance. "You know I won't hold it against you if you want to go to Midgar."

"I want to join SOLDIER." Cloud blurted out, flinching as Isa paused mid step and stared at him with his mouth agape. 

"Palmer's going to flip shit." He replied bluntly, his eyes narrowing in concern. 

"You sound your age now."

"I'm serious Cloud." Isa continued. "She'll be furious."

"I know but...I want to be stronger." He admitted.

The walked in silence until they passed by the manor that Isa sent a peculiar glance to, but Cloud decided against asking him when he saw Mayor Lockhart and a few other towns persons ahead of them when Lockhart sent him a polite smile. "I'm glad to see you're both here."

"Small party." Isa grunted, retaining his expression of indifference.

"Hey Isa! Let's have our usual competition." A man with a black rifle let out a heart laugh.

"Not interested." The Wutain shrugged, scanning the environment one last time before turning to look at the group. 

"So this is Strife's brat?" Another glanced down at Cloud and he scowled openly up at them. "You ever used a gun son?"

"Not really." Cloud grumbled, glancing down at the guns strapped to his body. "No reason to." He added a little louder when he looked back up to them.

"Ha, good kid eh?" Another chuckled.

"Yeah, but did you hear about that kid in Wutai?"

"The General?"

Cloud glanced up at the, curiously watching as the group began to move along the trail.

"Yeah, they say he completely crippled the Wutai army by himself." 

"Hopefully the war will end soon then."

"Doubt it. Those Shinra bastards don't know when to quit."

"What do you think about all this Isa?"

The Wutai was walking silently beside Cloud, and had his eyes fixed elsewhere when he distractedly supplied; "Shinra wouldn't stop until they've made a through example of whatever reasons they could provide."

"Was that a deer?" Cloud asked offhandedly, lazily pointing to where the light furred animal was running off. 

"Yes." Isa replied flatly as a few tried to aim for it. 

The moutain- as always- was a silent majesty, with arching black rocks whose jagged protrusions promised a painful fall if none were to ever take a fall down it's side, and small rock dens camouflaged by snow and pebbles where small animals hibernated. Cloud knew thanks to Isa that the larger animals- and even rarer- along with dragons inhabited the larger caves towards the peak, but to go there you had to go past the gorge, but as they took another route through the mako crystal caves he had been through with Benjamin (in secret of course) Cloud discovered two new facts he was not happy to know.

This was _so_  boring, was fact number one.

The second was that in his silent musings he had somehow become separated from the group in unfamiliar territory. A low groan made him stiffen, rigidly he turned to look back atbtge massive chuck of rock that was.... Moving. A humanoid like rock figure rose to his feet, easily towering over the blonde, it's slow steps thunderous with each footfall. 

"Whoa." He breathed, feeling excitement bubble in his stomach. " _Stone Giants?"_ He  had looked at Miss Merryweather in confusion as she sat across from him in the kitchen of the brothel sipping tea during one of their usual lessons. "Does such a thing exist?" He had asked.

"Officially, no, Shinra made sure to destroy all records concerning mythical creatures of the such, but ya know your old woman." She winked with a grin, and Cloud let out a laugh. 

"So what's up with these Giant's anyway?"

Her eyes brightened as she folded her hands together and began her explanation. "They were a peaceful race until The End, they traveled occasionally and sometimes the largests- now, they were rumored to break the heavens themselves- let nomadic people live in them."

"Really?"

" _Really_." The giant paused, it's sullen space for eyes studying Cloud for a moment before extending a long arm. 

Eagerly, Cloud climbed onto the giant's shoulder, grinning as the stone behemoth walked along some invisible route. It wasn't a long walk, despite the giant's pace, but Cloud's breath caught in his throat when the Giant set him down at the edge of a lake- steep cliffs sporting a waterfall pouring down into the clear water. Sitting itself down once more and unmoving as Cloud smiled at it. 

"Cloud!?" The shout echoed off the rock walls. "Cloud!" 

"I'm here!" He shouted, back, trusting Isa to figure out where he was. 

" _Holy shit_." 

"Language." He teased, watching the Wutain melt at the sight of the scenery. 

"Well I'll be damned!" A hunter laughed,  peering down at the water. "It really exists!"

"Cloud," Mayor Lockhart started. "How did you find this place?"

On cue the giant slowly stood, causing the group to jump back in fright as it began to walk away. "Thank you!" Cloud called after it, offering a smile and a wave when it paused to look back at him. Seemingly satisfied, the giant disappeared into the twisting cave system of Mount Nibel.

"Holy shit." Isa repeated, staring wide eyed after the giant, as the others did with similar expressions. Suddenly, Isa's jaw snapped shut, and he folded his arms over his chest. "Cloud, what did I tell you about talking to strangers?"

Cloud blinked dumbly up at Isa who gave him his usual glare. He replied flatly, "it's a rock."

"It's still a stranger." He argued, his frown deepening. 

"..."

"Stop laughing! Cloud! I'm being serious!"

When his laughter had died down, the others had quickly discovered that the lake was swarming with fish, so Isa took the liberty of explaining how to properly scale and fillet a fish. Which wasn't supposed to be hard- except the damn thing was so slimy, and wouldn't stay still whenever he tried to rub off the scales. "Isa, its not working." He growled, letting out a gulp when the knife sunk into the fish and beheaded it.

"How the hell did you do that with the dull side?" He quirked an eyebrow, adjusting the angle of the blade for the third time.

"Maybe its your stupid face." He lamely grumbled, eyes widening when the first few scales came off.

"Yes Cloud, my face is capable of causing you to decapitate a poor, innocent fish because I'm so evil for telling you to brush your teeth for eleven years straight." He drawled sarcastically, flicking the teenager's forehead with a roll of his eyes. 

He wrinkled his nose at the thought of the horrid, too minty, toothpaste Isa made him use. "Maybe I would brush my teeth more if you would get me the bubblegum toothpaste like I asked." 

"Cloud, I stopped you from using that to save you from the embarrassment of the store clerk commenting on the princesses that were on it." Isa deadpanned, impaling his fish with a stick and letting it hover over the fire while the others ate their fish and observed with bemusement.

"So? Palmer's gotten me it before." 

"And you tried to eat half of it in a day." The man sighed in fond exasperation. 

"It tatses better than what you buy me." 

"That's because I care about your dental health, not your suffering taste buds." 

"No wonder you won't let me eat bacon. You're sadistic- you know that?"

"Yes Cloud, I'm completely sadistic because I wouldn't let you drink bacon grease from the pan. Completely sadistic."

"I was gonna eat an apple with it."

"Oh, how tactless of me, I also apologize for insulting your dietary preferences because ice cream and pickles should never mix." 

"You didn't even try it!"

"Because the lining of my stomach isn't made of iron, Cloud." Isa snorted, taking Cloud's gutted fish from him and holding it over the fire. "Weirdo." He teased, taking a bite of his fish and sending a friendly kick to Cloud's leg. 

"Jerk." He grumbled, punching Isa back and scooting closer to the fire. 

With a full stomach, Cloud snuggled deeper into his sleeping bag, glowering at a white hare that cuddled up to his side after everyone had gone to sleep- except for Isa, who was sneaking pictures of the bunny crawling into the crook of Cloud's neck. "It's a manly demonstration of my tolerance for animals." He reminded himself with a grumble, resisting the urge to grab the rodent when it shifted, causing a foot to claw intoi his nose. 

"You keep telling yourself that... Cloud." He heard Isa say softly before he felt the gentle tug of sleep.

_"Save them."_

Wearily, Cloud blinked his eyes open, letting out a startled gasp when he was no longer by the campfire, but masked figures standing over him in a circle.

"Repent."

" ** _Repent_**." Through his tear filled vision he glowered up at the bathroom ceiling, watching the figures walk away as he clutched his broken hand and felt the throb of unconsciousness tugging on his mind. 

"Isa!" He cried, thrashing violently when his wrist were seized, staring down at the dark water fearfully. "Isa! Help! Please!" 

A few mocking laughs could be heard and Cloud felt his stomach leap up to his throat as the water inched closer with his feet in the air. Thrashing harder he screamed as loud as his lungs could allow him, letting out a choked gasp when water wrapped around him, rushed inside his lungs and burned him from the inside. 

 _"My son. My beautiful child."_ A sweet voice crooned as he stared at the dark empty space before him.  _"Come to me...my child."_

_Who are you?_

_"Come my son."_

_Why...are...I'm not-_

_"That woman is a traitor!"_ The woman spat viciously. 

 _No...she's..._  Palmer grinned down at him, ruffling his hair a little and Miss Merryweather held a graph problem up for him to solve. 

_"Do not think of them- they're all traitors!"_

Isa frowned, inspecting the engine he had fixed carefully as Cloud nervously bit his lip. Smiling, Isa complimented him and ruffled his hair affectionately. He had felt so happy. Jessie laughed, connecting a few more wires as Kai brought tea and lemonade with Palmer and Grammy, Isa taking the extra calculus papers from her hands and a tray as the other girls followed.

_Family._

Suddenly, it wasn't so dark- there was a field full of flowers; fingering the petals gently he stared up at the ice over the warm ground- which was the first oddity he discovered in this odd world, while the second was that the sky was green and he sat in the shade of a cherry tree, or it might've been a plum tree, but at the moment Cloud was more concerned with the dark figure beneath the tree.

 _"Save them."_ A gentler voice urged, leaving only silence hanging in the air between him and the silver haired man that stared down at him. The man didn't look that old- his face still had some soft features, but his cat like emerald eyes held an otherworldly appearance that made Cloud unsure if the apparition was real. 

Taking a shy step- then instantly regretting it when the ice spread, it's glossy surface reaching the figure's black boots and causing the man to look up at him. "Who... Are you?" 

Disinterested, emerald eyes studied the cherry tree, holding back a growl of annoyance Cloud repeated; "who the hell are you?"

After a long moment the man's lips parted, and a deep voice smoothly replied; "I could ask the same of you. Though I am surprised to learn that my subconscious is more creative than I imagined." He chuckled darkly, and Cloud noticed the dark circles under those breathtaking eyes.

Summoning his courage he walked over to the man, ignoring the ice that was now crawling up the bark of the cherry tree when he did so and gently touched his board shoulders, running his palms along the skin in soothing motions. Slowly, those muscled shoulders (seriously, this guy was huge) relaxed underneath his touch and his emerald eyes slowly closed. 

Oh gods, he was not enjoying this- he was not enjoying this at all, was what he kept chanting in his head as he rubbed harder at the seventh know he found towards the base of the man's neck, pushing more silver strands aside and cursing his brain for even thinking about how surprisingly soft it was. 

He swore to the gods he never would've started this if he knew he was such a pervert.

Shyly he finished up the massage between the man's shoulder blades through the leather and once he lifted his hands away the jacket was off, exposing creamy flesh that was free of any blemishes or markings. Feeling his face heat up as those eyes stared back at him meaningfully he tentatively began working the muscles again, marveling at the number of tense spots he missed. "So, where are you from?" He tried in a meek attempt to ignore his thoughts.

"I don't have a hometown." He said tersely with a frown. 

"Nah, you probably just don't know." Cloud shrugged. "Grammy says that some kids grow up like that." 

He stayed silent, breathing in deeply when Cloud inched his hands down towards his shoulder blades.

"I'm from Nibelheim." He started, fully prepared for this one sided conversation. "It's right at the foot of a mountain- there's a reactor here too. Lots of bunnies. Me and my friend Ben tagged a bunch of them once for an experiment- though it was more of an observation." He shrugged, once again pushing away a stubborn strand that refused to lay any wear but the man's back. "Palmer knows a lot about mako too, and Isa told me that he knew some Wutain's that studied it too."

The man visibly flinched at the mention of the western country, so instead Cloud talked about the brothel, his mother, and Benjamin, school, Miss Merryweather, the stone giant he had come across earlier, and anything he could think of until he finished when he had been dumped into the lake. "Am I dead?" He asked, idly twirling a few strands of silver hair in his fingers.

Slowly the man turned, a large hand reaching up to gingerly brush against his chin. "Most likely." He supplied solemnly. 

"Are you a soldier?"

"Yes."

"Are you strong?"

"Yes." 

"Are you leaving soon?" Cloud looked back at the wet cherry tree that shed its petals on them.

"Sephiroth."

"What?"

"My name is Sephiroth."

"Oh...I'm-" He gasped, sitting upright and staring down at his familiar covers and ignoring his stomach as he threw off the sheets and walked down stairs to his computer. 

"Cloud!" He felt his shoulders shake under the hands that gripped them and he blinked up at Isa. 

"Dad?" Dazed, he rocked back and forth where he stood. "What was that thing?"

"Jenova." Palmer answered from behind Isa with a scowl. "It was called Jenova."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Started: 06/17/2015  
> Finished: 06/22/2015


	8. Chapter VIII: Midgar Show

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Not really sure how to feel about it.  
> Something in the way you move  
> Makes me feel like I can't live without you.  
> It takes me all the way.  
> I want you to stay" -Stay, Rihanna ft. Milky Ekko

# Dollhouse

## Chapter VIII: Midgar Show

### Cloud learns more of Shinra, meets Vincent, reads Benjamin's letters and makes his way to Midgar, where Isa introduces him into his insane 'brother'.

### Isa: Cloud, he's not insane.

### Cloud: Yeah, because he's totally 'sane'. Absolutely not a raving gun frantic who carried me around like a sack of potatoes and made me rob Shinra blind.

### Isa: What!?

### Cloud: Uh...nothin'.

* * *

"Is that even comfortable?" Cloud blurted out, earning an eye roll from Isa, a laugh from Palmer and Miss Merryweather.

Maybe that wasn't the best question to ask a man who had spent the last twenty years slumbering in a coffin after years of experiments, but Cloud was really lacking creativity when all this new information scrambling his brains and the mako mucking up his new enhanced senses.

And gods, it made no fucking sense- after he woke up Palmer began explaining about Shinra's earlier days, how she had been a lab assistant under a Professor Hojo after Professor Ghast died, left to rot in the basement of Shinra manor after deemed a 'failure'.

Apparently the mako was lingering in his system- and he didn't even fucking know that Mako _had_ a density properly, let alone it was at the bottom of that damned lake and he had been a coma for two weeks. 

And it left him fucking pissed.

"You look like him..." The raven haired man in the odd red cape muttered, pointedly staring at Cloud.

"Who are you?" 

"Come on Isa, that was so lame." Palmer sighed.

How could she be _so_ calm?!

"I don't think ya'll should be worryin' about what's 'lame' and 'cool'." Miss Merryweather snorted.

"Do something original and cool! Like; we totally read that creepy guy reports and really, really would appreciate it if you explained more about this Sephiroth." Palmer continued, bouncing excitedly despite her almost nudity and high heels. 

"You know Sephiroth?" The man in the coffin perked up at that, metal clawed hand grasping the edge of the coffin. 

"Yes, yes, what part of 'read all of the reports' don't you understand?" Palmer scoffed.

"That, and he is the most famous man on the planet." Isa sighed, sending an annoyed glance to the black haired woman. "Possibly the strongest as well."

"I see." 

"Well nice talking to you. Thanks for absolutely fucking nothing." Cloud chimed, about to walk out of the room when Miss Merryweather gave him a stern glance. 

"Cloud." Isa sighed, "I know you're upset and confused, but that's no reason to lash out." He quickly scolded.

"Eh, let the kid get it out of his system. Why don't you take a look around with Grammy?" She smiled sweetly, and Cloud lowered his head in embarrassment of his lack of control over his temper. 

"Come on Grammy." He grumbled, holding the door open for her. The rock walls of Shinra Manor's basement uneased him- enespecially now, since he couold see the outline of various monsters clinging to the rock wall. 

"You know..." He hesitantly started, taking a deep breath to swallow his nerves. "I sometimes remember things... Like my real dad...and that other guy...how he hit me and... Her."

"Her? Cloudy?" Grammy hesitantly opened a door, cringing at the sight of long bloodied and rusting medical equipment before slamming the door shut. 

"My real ma." 

"Cloud, we can talk about this some other time." She resumed walking, swatting a low flying bat away from her bouncing afro. 

"No, he... It was small things at first... Like pushing and threats. Gods he made me so pissed sometimes." He laughed bitterly, entering the room at the end of the hall and glancing about the old laboratory. "I barely remember what happened. Just waking up covered in blood. Ma stitching me back up and crying... It hurt."

"What hurt?" Grammy stopped, gripping his shoulders with her strong hands and urging him to continue.

"That'd she just... Let it get that far." He let out a slow breath, just as Grammy had taught him. "I blamed her for a while- Hell, I still do... but it hurt more when she ignored me. Too drunk to care." 

 "Go on Cloudy, I won't judge you." She assured, feeling a pain his her Chet's went he sent her a tired and solem look. Definitely child neglect, she noted bitterly, thanking Isa and Palmer for showing the boy appropriate adult/child relationships... Well as appropriate as Palmer could be. 

"I... Remember her with my real dad... She always looked so happy. I saw him when he left... I cried so much." He sighed. "I look a lot like him." He said with a note of sadness. 

"Cloud, just remember that they both love you."

Cloud laughed at that. "Funny thing... I don't really care bout that since... Ya know... You, Isa, Palmer and all the girls... You guys are my family..." He blushed scratching his cheek with a glaring blush May found completely adorable. 

"Oh, my boy." She laughed, "I'm happy to hear it."

Cloud let out his last deep breath, feeling the weight leave his shoulders as he reached for a few books on the table. "Did yoiu talk to Benjamin about his sexuality?"

"Why yes I did." She blinked, eyebrows raised in surprise. "So I take it y'all talked it out?"

"Yeah... I'm not sure about men or woman and all that jazz... But... I'd like to keep my mind... Open." The return of the blush.

"Thats good son, hand over that book right there would ya?" 

"Uh... How does... It work?" 

"What work?"

"Uh... Ya know... Two guys..."

"..."

"Grammy its not funny!"

 When they returned to the brothel, finding Palmer, Isa watching in bemusement as coffin guy fought to keep the cape Kai was trying to wash. "Its dusty!"

"I prefer it like this." He protested with a face that suggested otherwise, trying to escape the hold she had on his collar. "Please release me."

"Just let her wash it. She'll try to strip you down naked if you don't." Cloud offered, mulling over how he had once again missed bacon in his breakfast. 

"That is it!" Kai pounced, wrestling the man to the ground and working the cape off, as he wordlessly fell to the ground. 

"Did you two find anything?" Isa asked, walking past Kai who was now taking off coffin-smelling guy's black shirt, grumbling about too many buckles. 

"Apparently Jenova was mistaken for a Cetra." Grammy began, leaving Cloud to free to talk to Palmer who pulled him close and ran her fingers through his blonde hair. 

"What did happen in that dream? The one with Jenova?" She asked absently, watching as Kai scampered off, while coffin guy, looking as if he hasn't just been stripped down to his underwear sat calmly, inspecting his pistol. 

"Um... Nothing..." He scratched his cheeks, wondering if the guy wanted the two funds he brought to the hunting trip. 

"Awe, did you find out something embarrassing?" She cooed, poking his side playfully.

"Only that she has a serious promotion of an Oedipus complex." Cloud muttered darkly with a shudder. 

"Ew!" She giggled. "But that does sound kind of hot."

" _Ma_! Palmer's being a pervert!"

Isa cursed himself for acknowledging Cloud when he called him that. 

"What about the one with Sephiroth?" Palmer inquired, now twisting the ends of his hair into small braids.

"..."

"Awe! Did my Cloudy do the dirty deed? The horizontal tango? Some amorous congress? Open a basket making shop? Played St. Gorge? Gave him a green gown? Blew a blanket hornpipe?" 

"Oh my gods!" Cloud slapped a hand over his redening cheeks, " we just talked!"

"So it was more like 'talk dirty' then?"

"Ma! Palmer's being a gross pervert!"

"Stop calling me that!"

"Stop answering to that, Ma!"

"They're certainly lively." Vincent commented to Miss Merryweather, he believed her name was, as he sat, still stupefied that he had just been striped down to his underwear. 

"Well, its certainly never a dull day." The woman chuckled, her large afro bouncing with her head as she nodded. "I'd like to ask ya a question, if ya would." She questured to a heavy metal door, nodding he made his way to it, holding it open for her.

"You go sexy momma!" Palmer cheered with a wink, causing Vincent to blush as he stepped into the room, closing the door behind him. 

"How did ya know Cloud's father?"

Cloud... So that was his name. Sound something like Sky would choose. "He called himself a 'Wanderlustige' when I was just sent to Nibelheim. Naturally, it was my responsibility to gather Intel about the area, where I met him in the Inn." Vincent glanced down at the black desk, spotting dark stains shaped into a flower on itsits smooth surface.

"He slept anywhere and everywhere, and I found him one day sleeping in the mansion. He told me he was hiding from two Wutain's who he managed to anger." Vincent chuckled. "I believe one of them was Isa. He was only a child then. The other was Xing."

"Xing?" The dark skinned woman blinked, raising an eyebrow. 

"His brother." Vincent clarified, tracing the flower with his thumb. 

"So that's his name..." Merryweather mused. "Do you know Cloud's mother?"

"No. I died before that." He admitted, glancing up to find the woman absently flipping through the pages of a sketchbook. "What will you all do with this knowledge?"

She laughed, throwing her head back and laughing. "Honestly I'm not sure- I'm too old to do anything, but... Cloud... He might be able to figure it out." She chuckled, "the boy is a genius after all." 

"Him? He's a child." Vincent replied skeptically.

"He is." She chuckled. "But my boy is part of the next generation of children, I've seen him grow and help people around him. I think they can show us elders a new thing or two."

"Coffin dude!" The door slammed open and Cloud barreled into him. 

Vincent blinked as the boy who was now wearing a neon pink parka that matched the possum's on his shoulder, fluffy pink bunny slippers on his feet. "You've hacked computers before right!? Do you know ruby, because I swear no matter how many times I try to line break a paragraph so I can read the stupid thing it creates another link box instead."

"Uh... Why is that possum wearing a parka?" He managed, staring wide- eyed at Palmer who was wearing some kind of outfit he only saw in some old comic books the younger Turks read.

"Don't ask." Cloud replied, glancing at Isa who was covered in glitter. "Its easier if you just don't ask." 

"So, Isa's sending me to Midgar, and they have newer models stuff and I want to learn how it works, but I can't get into the Shinra mainframe, and its pissing me off." The blonde grumbled. 

"Why is he sending you to Midgar?" 

Glowing blue eyes met his, and the boy gave him a look as if he had just said the most idiot thing in the world. "You want to talk to Sephiroth, don't you?"

"Yes."

"And you've been asleep for twenty years." 

"I'll manage."

"He knows me."

"If he remembers."

The blonde scowled, sitting himself down before a computer and distractedly typing. "I want to talk to him too. I don't really understand why I saw him... But... I just feel like I need to talk to him." He admitted quietly.

"What will you say?"

"Well, ' _Hi, you were injected with alien cells while you were a fetus, and I know this for sure because a guy who's supposed to be dead was there and he's still alive because your father is a crazy scientist who killed him and your mother who allowed you to become an alien clone brought him back to life_ ' isn't sounding too good." He drawled dryly.

"His father?" Vincent blinked.

"Some professor Hojo guy- here." The blonde pushed aside some envelopes that had been on the desk. He plucked the one on the bottom, figuring it was the first and unfolded the paper.

_Dear Cloud,_

_I made it to Midgar safely, and I saw a chocobo for the first time on the way here. They kind of reminded me of you, and I got homesick pretty quickly, ahaha. Midgar's huge! I never seen so many people in one place, and once I got to the building I got so lost. A nice girl helped me out. She said that she was visiting her sister who was a Turk. She wouldn't tell me what was a turk though._

_With love,_

_Ben._

Vincent knew these letters were probably personal, but none the less he opened the next one.

_Dear Cloud,_

_Remember that nice girl who helped me out? I asked her out on a date, she blushed and it was really cute. Though, her sister really scares me. Turns out all the Turks all look like class one bunny killers! Anyways working with Dr. Hollander isn't too bad, but I feel like my diet I going to be caffeine for the foreseeable future. I sure do miss Kai's cooking, oh and try not to overload on the bacon._

_With love,_

_Ben._

_Dear Cloud,_

_Today, I got a promotion, and it's all your fault Cloud Strife. The head of the science department- Professor Hojo is kind of creepy, but I swear your sass is contagious, because the two were arguing about the geographical difference of effectiveness of mako (I know, so entertaining right?) And I butted in and said 'why don't you just try building some giant windmills and blow really fucking hard'. I was so scared they'd ship me back to Nibelheim I didn't realize I had been promoted to 'lab assistant'._

_See? Its all your fault._

_With love,_

_Ben._

"Head of the... Hojo." He growled, setting the letters down before he crushed them in blind rage. 

If Hojo was the current head of the department that meant Gast was most likely dead, and that left Hojo free to do whatever he wished to experiment on while Vincent had spent to many years sleepingsleeping. He was beginning to wonder if that was the right way to atone for his sins. 

"I believe we were heading to Midgar?" 

Cloud smiled, unplugging a flash drive- when had the boy done that?- and holding out his hand. "Cloud Strife."

"Vincent Valentine."

"Let's mosey on." 

That was _so lame,_ Vincent snickered, ignoring the glare Cloud gave him in return.

* * *

 When they had arrived in the slums, Vincent hadn't been expecting to have a gun already pointed at his fave when he stepped into the Wutain home. Xing blinked, pulling back the triple barrel and ran a hand through hishis short, unruly black hair. "So what's it like being dead?"

"Xing." He greeted, ignoring the confused glance from Isa he got. 

"Valentine." The large man returned, glancing down at Cloud. "So, you're the brat Sky had." He mused, chewing on a bamboo strip before meeting Isa's gaze. "I'm guessing you want a favor, right?"

 "I can't give you all the details but-"

"Its something crazy then?" Xing grinned, wide and wolf like, just like he did when he was younger. "No need then, I'll look after 'im."  He scooped Cloud up, holding the blonde underneath his arm and walking back into the house. "Let's go kid- you ain't a big softie like my brother are you?"

"Uh... Who the fuck are you?"

"Ha! I like this kid already!"

"Oh leviathan, what have I done." Isa sighed, shaking his head. "I guess I should ask how you know my brother, but I feel like I already know the answer."

"Sky." Vincent offered, scanning his surroundings quickly. "Is Xing a yakuza?"

"Probably, I just hope he won't get Cloud in too much trouble." Isa sighed once more, frowning. 

"He'll be fine." 

"Bye Isa, we're going for a walk!" Cloud waved with a grin as Xing carried him past the two.

"Probably."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Started: 06/30/2015  
> Finished: 06/16/2015


End file.
